


A Whole New World

by Stevo2019



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, BAMF Percy Jackson, Crossover, F/M, Neptune, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stevo2019/pseuds/Stevo2019
Summary: Story adopted from PLpanda. Bits added and other bits rewrittenAfter the giant war Annabeth chooses godhood over percy, feeling used and betrayed by everyone Percy uses his wish to live a life without gods. The fate grants him that by sending him to a different universe.But did they keep their word?Percy Jackson just wants peace but In this new world where heroes and villians are more powerful than normal, will Percy get some peace or will he be thrust into another heroes life?.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Artemis Crock/Wally West, Garth/Tula (DCU), Kon-El | Conner Kent & M'gann M'orzz, Percy Jackson/Zoë Nightshade
Comments: 5
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

(BETWEEN DIMENSIONS) 

Percy had made his wish after the giant war, after Annabeth had betrayed him and chose godhood after all they had been through and all he had done for her. She made her choice even knowing Percy would never accept godhood.

The wish was one that Zues wasn't happy with considering he was losing his best weapon. but there was nothing he could do, espesically when the Fates interfered after he had wished for a life without divine interference, and no one able to control his life.

To say the council was shocked would be an understatement, but Percy found that he couldn't find it in himself to care. As soon as the Fates had said there was another world without gods, he accepted after making sure that his education would be complete and also be set up with money as he did not want to end up homeless.

Athena blessed him, with a full education and cured his dyslexia as well as what else came with her blessing though she wouldn't tell him what, stating he would find out.

Hermes handed him a package that read, 'open in new dimension.' saying it was a thank you for clearing Luke's name.

Poseidon pulled Percy aside and told him of his first trident that he had left in the other universe when they left that world, he told Percy too retrieve just incase something happened over there and he had protection.

After Percy had said some goodbyes and purposely ignored Annabeth, Zues had had enough and sent Percy on his way.

(LINE BREAK)

(24TH OF JULY AMNESTY BAY)

Percy awoke at a sea lantern in some small fishing town. Sitting on the sand he could see the town from here, From the names of the shops he figured he was still in America.

Good enough place for him to start from, he didn't really know what to do, he was really a free man, without any monsters chasing him, without any Gods pestering and acting all high and mighty, without the fates to play with his life.

Now it was time to think about his future here in this new world. He grabbed the package Hermes gave him and opened it.

This time, the name said open in this dimension only. Inside there was a passport, ID card under his name, Perseus Achilles Jackson, stating he was 21. There was also a credit card, a wallet filled with money, even an amazon premium membership card. If someone saw it, it would not look suspicious.

There was also a folder full of different documents, both real and faked, some food, nicely folded clothes, and other stuff you would take for weekend trip. There was also a letter from Hermes.

Dear Percy

I never really got a chance to thank you for saving my son. He died a heroes' death and entered Elysium all thanks to you. I learned my lesson more painfully than the other gods and promise to honor your wish and force others to do so as well. I will take care of your family, so don't worry. I own a successful company and I don't have anything to do with money anyway, so at least I can share some with them.

Don't worry, they will never learn of it because I heard from Poseidon what happened last time, he made a offer to help Sally in any way.

The wallet and bag are enchanted to return to you if you ever lose it or it gets stolen. The credit card is a platinum version of the Lotus Casino credit card. I snatched it on the last guys' night out with Apollo and the boys. It will not run out of funds, but be careful not to use it in any ATM.

The wallet will refill itself monthly. Consider it your retirement pension. It's not like demigods have a good retirement program. I just hope my spells work in the other world. Word of warning: this world does not have mist since Hecate left, so be careful with power shows.

Good luck In your new life 

Hermes 

The first aid kit contained a good supply of Ambrosia and Nectar and he was pretty sure it was supposed to never run out. As percy sat on the beach for some time just breathing in the sea breeze and resting, his stomach started to remind him that he hasnt eaten anything in gods know how long.

He stood up gathering his things and walked to the nearest restaurant. On the window was big sign: "Dish of the day: Fish&Chips." If not for the typical American interior, percy would have thought he landed in England by mistake.

He entered and sat alone at a table, in the booth next to his sat some guy in a orange suit made of scales. If not for the fact that Percy was 99% sure there was no gods in this world, he would have thought some half-brother of his had come to get some "mortal food"

"What can I get you sweetie?" A pretty waitress came to my table holding notebook.

"What dish on the menu does not contain fish?" It's not that Percy's against eating fish as a whole. More like personal preference. It's feels weird eating something that not so long could talk to you. He was friends with some sea animals back home and he was sure he would be here as well.

"Oh! You don't have to worry. I don't really talk to fish. I have no problems with eating them." The man in the orange scale armor chimed in, showing Percy a plate with a half-eaten dish of the day.

"Excuse me, but who are you again?" Percy asked he tried being polite, but honestly at that point he was so hungry he was getting irritated. Plus This man seemed a bit too full of himself. 

"You don't know me? I am Aquaman, king of Atlantis, one of..." He started to trail off, because Percy couldn't hold it in any longer and just laughed. 

"You? King of Atlantis? Yeah right! And what next? Small green Martians attack the earth?" Percy asked with a laugh. some mortal ruling in his father's place was just too ridiculous. Only after he had calmed down, he saw people looking at him with worried expressions. He guessed it must normal in this dimension to make such claims.

Aquaman looked confused by percys laugh. "You have not heard about me? What about the Justice League? Surely you must have heard about us."

"Look man. I just got to town. I have no idea what circus you work at, but that is none of my business. I just want to be left alone, without others pestering me about it." Percy was starting to get irritated with him. His arrogance was reminding him of ol' Drama Queen.

Aquaman seemed taken aback by percys mood swing and lack of knowledge. "How have you not even heard about The Justice League? Who are you even?"

Percy looked at the small crowd gathering around them. "I really don't care who you are. I just want you to Leave me be and I will do the same with you."

Percy turned and tried walking away, but Aquaman stopped him, Grabbing his shoulder, his hand had on instinct went to his pocket to grab riptide, responding to hostile action. Sadly, Aquaman did not take it as gesture of good will and instead assumed percy went to pull out some knife or something. He quickly grabbed his hand and tried to stop Percy.

Unfortunately for Aquaman, Percy's battle reflexes kicked in and before Aquaman even got a grip on his shoulder, Percy pulled riptide and uncapped it, Taking advantage of the confusion on Aquamans face, he charged, trying to knock him down and make an exit, but Aquaman was faster than any mortal Percy had met, making him question if he was just a mortal.

The Gods had promised Percy this world was empty of divine influence (minus few artifacts of passed age), but they had lied to him before.

Aquaman blocked Percy's strike with his armored gauntlet, sending riptide away and breaking the window in the process. Percy jumped back to create some distance to try and make an escape plan.

Aquaman did not give him a chance to analyze the situation properly, instead he went for a punch. Percy ducked and answered with a strike of his own, Percy being Glad he took extra-curriculum hand-to-hand combat at the camp. His punch sent Aquaman flying away. It was strange for Percy because back home he did not have this kind of strength to him.

Percy looked at shocked Aquaman to see him trying to stand up. Percy looked around quickly trying to find an exit, but the crowd made it hard, he did not want to hurt them.

Aquaman had already stood up and was talking into his earpiece, calling for backup.

Percy decided not to see what type of backup this was supposed to be and jumped through the broken window, as soon as his feet hit the concrete he was running. When Percy had created some distance he ducked low and hid behind a nearby car.

Percy slowly peaked around to check if he was being followed, The man he now knew as Aquaman was talking to a group of people in costumes. There was one guy dressed in all red that couldn't stand still, Constantly jumping around like he was always on the run. Reminding him of Hermes.

Then, there was another man dressed in all black and gray, There was this gloomy aura around him similar to the one Hades and his children emits, except this one was clearly mortal or a distant legacy at best in Percy's opinion.

There was also another man dressed in all green and another one that had green skin. There was also a woman wearing what looked like Greek armor that bore a resemblance to what some hunters wore in his world and from what he has seen in the amazons' headquarters and the Last one was a levitating man. He was hanging in the air. Definitely not a mortal. With that in mind Percy started crawling behind cars when an arrow landed in front of him and a gloomy voice spoke behind him. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Percy turned to see that this dress up party had found him. Not having any other option, he quickly jumped to his feet and took a battle stance.

"Look guys, I have had a really tiring day, believe me I just got here and I don't want any trouble, let's just walk in different directions and never see each other again?" Percy said as he tried to stall. He didn't really stand a chance against a group of mortals or rather what looked like mortals but knowing his luck were some kind of super-humans. Just what world did the Gods send him to again?

"Sorry, but that is not an option. You clearly aren't human. You'll come with us so we can run some tests and see who or what are you." The green man said with calmness in his voice.

Percy looked around, trying to figure any way to escape. He noticed an opening between the man in red and woman in Greek armour. Without warning he jumped between them and tackled the woman that tried to stop him. He run straight toward the sea hoping to lose them underwater. No one can beat him at swimming, well maybe his father but his not here.

As percy got to the beach something red zoomed next to him and for a moment he was surrounded by a scarlet tornado and When it died out he was bound with heavy cuffs with some double blue rods connecting them and made moving his hands incredibly hard. Having the unexpected change in weight he fell and tumbled a bit in the sand.

Before Percy had even stood up, he felt a strong hand lifting him in the air, The levitating man turned out to be quite strong as Percy tried to wriggle out of his grip, but it was strong like he was made of steel. "Now be kind and stop constantly running away. We mean no harm, but you must come with us. There is something extraordinary about you and also you attacked and bested one of stronger Leaguers." The man holding percy kind of reminded him of Jason with his actions. Like he was in power and he knew it but did not make a big deal out of it.

Percy was really getting tired with them. They clearly did not want to leave him alone. So he closed his eyes and tried reaching mentally to the sea, he felt waves close to him, The sea for a brief moment resisted percy, but finally a familiar tug in his gut told him that the sea had submitted to his will.

Percy poured all of his past emotions into the familiar tug In gut, the Rage of passed battles with giants, his rage at Gaia for almost ruining everything. His sadness after Annabeth left him to become a goddess, happiness when seeing Nico become a god, the anger he felt toward Zeus for his arrogance and sadness about leaving his world and everything behind and It felt like all of this left him, going into the water of the sea.

Percy sensed a huge wave gathering behind him, Some of his pursuers made a step back and looked scared, but the man holding him raised his hand and made a fist. "Drop the water now. There are innocent people nearby." He seemed to have nerves of steel too. Instead of letting go, Percy made the wave fall on them and pull everyone under the sea.

The refreshing feeling of the salty sea water touching his skin gave him enough strength to get out of the grip of the surprised man and tear the handcuffs off. He quickly dashed away willing the currents to take him somewhere safe, but as he saw one of the pursuers, the one dressed in all red choking on water, For a moment he wanted to leave him for the others to save, but seeing they were more focused on getting him and the man in red had no way of screaming for help, he turned the currents and sped past the rest, grabbing the drowning man and launching them both back onto the beach.

Once they had landed, Percy forced all the water from his lungs, making sure to at the same time let air in so his lungs didnt collapse. As he pulled the water out, the man in red started coughing, Percy quickly looked around to see the rest of them surrounding him, weapons ready. Clearly, they weren't going to give up so easily, but before they could react and really do anything, Percy jumped back into the water and willed currents to take him away.

( LINE BREAK )

(MOUNT JUSTICE JULY 24TH)

The team quickly gathered in the main hall as Batman had called a meeting. Robin and Kid flash came in arguing about who would win in a battle between superman and Wonder Woman. Robin was a great supporter of WW and kept giving good point in the argument. At the same time Wally kept arguing and stating that Supes' would win as he is Superman.

Their discussion was cut short by a glare from Batman and the fact that everyone was waiting for them. "Today around 9:15AM Aquaman was attacked in his home town of Amnesty Bay. An Unknown assailant walked into his favorite bar and got into a verbal fight that got physical. That was When Aquaman got tossed through the entire restaurant." at this point a video recording made with a smartphone appeared, showing the incident.

" That's awesome " kid flash Piped I'm to receive glares from most of the team and a few chuckles from others.

Batman, giving kid flash his bat glare continued. "he called for backup, seven leaguers arrived on scene. We tried to apprehend the assailant, but he tackled wonder woman and escaped toward the ocean, while at the same time demanding to be left alone. Superman and Flash managed to apprehend him temporarily, but he still dropped a giant wave on us and pulled us all underwater. He started to escape, but when flash began to drown, he turned back and saved him, before running away for good."

Diana was frowning, going over the scene In her head, the boy seemed lost to her and those bright sea green eyes seemed to hold a lot of pain.

The feed from Batman's suit camera shows a young boy, around 17 controlling water and pulling it out of Flash's lungs before he looked around and jumped back into the sea.

"We think this boy might be another Cadmus experiment, He displayed some level of water control. He kept mentioning new start and asked to be left alone, He also displayed complete lack of knowledge regarding the outside world and he wasn't aware about the Justice leagues existence or any of the heroes." The video was now paused and zoomed in on the strange boy's face "I want you to find him and follow him silently. We must keep an eye on him, but most likely he will see the League as a threat and might attack us or run away. Try not to engage if not necessary. Any questions?"

Superboy looked at the picture, trying to remember if he ever saw this boy in Cadmus, but nothing came to mind, he was Probably in another wing or another facility if he was even in one at all, But there was also another problem Superboy had. "Why exactly are we even following him? He asked to be left alone and if I understand correctly, he said he meant no harm until you guys assaulted him. It seems to me like he was just defending himself. If he wanted to defeat you, he would have let Flash drown." Superboy got angrier with each word. It's not like this boy really did something wrong. Even If he was another Cadmus experiment that escaped, why hunt him?

"This boy is strong enough to tackle Wonder Woman and throw Aquaman across a room. Underwater, he is so fast that even Aquaman can't catch him. Whatever he is, he might pose a threat to public safety whether he is aware of it or not. If he is not aware of all his powers, he is even more dangerous. Does that satisfy you?" Batman asked.

"For now." Superboy replied even though he still considered them wrong.

"Good. I need you all ready in 10 minutes. We managed to track him somewhere on long island near the Delphi Strawberry field. Travel using the bio-ship but stay in camo mode. Team dispatched." Batman said before walking away.


	2. 2

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, 24TH OF JULY)

In the dark chamber seven outlines of figures appeared on screens, To make sure nobody recognized them the images of silhouettes were blurred.

Before them stood a slender woman, about 5'6", Her face was hidden behind a porcelain Cheshire cat mask, She wore dark-green kimono, but there were traces of some armor underneath.

"Sports master has failed us. We must make sure that this mission goes smoothly and without trouble." One of the figures spoke, but his voice was distorted by some tech they all used.

The video of the boy punching Aquaman and then another with him drowning the whole league appeared.

"This morning we detected an anomaly in the small town named Amnesty bay. Not even an hour later close to the exact location someone took on the entire Justice League and managed to stall them long enough to make an escape. We tracked him to Long Island. This boy is definitely strong and has some level of Hydrokinesis, There is also no mention of him in any of the databases around the world." One of the figures said.

"We want you to capture him and bring him to Cadmus B. He might be a powerful asset. It's important that he doesn't fall into the league's hands. Terminate him if necessary and recover the body, Any additional information will be given on your way there."

Behind the mask Cheshire smiled. Finally, she had the chance to show that she was better than her father. 

(LONG ISLAND 24TH OF JULY) 

Percy sat on camp Half-Blood hill, or rather what was half-blood hill in his world. Riptide was plunged into the tree all the way up to the hilt which he used as a peg to put the bag on. This was not Thalia's Pine, but rather some random tree somebody had planted here. Percy used his jacket as an impromptu blanket on which he sat, overlooking the valley.

Being honest with himself Percy had no idea what made him come to this place, It was just an instinct, While running from his pursuers, he willed the sea to take him somewhere safe. He did not have any place in particular, but subconsciously he wanted to go home, the one place where he could be himself.

But there was no such place here, for Percy This was a whole new world for him to explore. He bought himself a small laptop at a nearby store and a 'senior's learn to guide' for computer and internet. At first the cashier gave him a weird look, but he quickly explained that this was a gift for his grandma's b-day. He wasn't about to admit that he had never used any sort of technology before, its not like he could've explained anyway.

Right now, he was learning the theory about using computers while enjoying the summer. With his dyslexia gone he was finding it strange to be able to read English without any trouble, everything was strange.

The Air in this world seemed different as well, like it was overloaded with power, The longer he stayed here the stronger he felt, The feeling was a bit similar to sitting on his father's throne, except the power recognized him this time and instead of threatening to vaporize him it accepted him and When he first touched the water, he felt more energised than what he had felt back home when he done it, now even out of the water he still was more energised than usual.

He tried reading the book some more, but his ADHD was acting up. So he decided he would go explore, closing the book and packing his things up, he went to retrieve Riptide and the bag, but just then he felt another presence nearby.

Thanks to Hades blessing he could feel other living beings near him. No raising the dead or shadow traveling, but he had a life-sense and there was the fact that shadows seemed to be pulled to him, allowing him to hide better.

Percy tensed, knowing that he was being watched, but decided to play along. He took the bag and pulled riptide out of the tree. And with his instinct and battle reflexes he turned around just in time to deflect three poisoned darts shot at him from an unknown direction.

"Well, well, well... You clever little boy, I Didn't expect you deflect them. Guess I'll have to do it the hard way." A female voice seemed to be coming from various different places at once.

The life sense did not help Percy at the moment because she was constantly moving, leaving a faint trail everywhere, Percy was tempted to close his eyes and try relying on his other senses, but it was too dangerous to leave himself open like that. 

Suddenly, a woman dressed in what Percy would describe as the worst Halloween costume yet, jumped at him holding two weird daggers. He managed to deflect one, but the second cut his shoulder and drew a bit of blood.

Just as fast as she appeared, Cheshire disappeared in the shadows created by the surrounding trees, now that she had dosed him all she had to was wait for him to go onconcious and complete her mission.

Percy felt the pain in his shoulder, the cut was shallow but there was probably some poison on the knife, he could sense it. The pain was quickly replaced by numbness, He wanted to quickly grab some ambrosia, but to do that he would need to drop his sword and use only his good hand, leaving himself open for more attacks.

Instead, Percy ran toward the tree line hoping to lose his oppenent in the shadows. Before he got there though he sensed something flying through the air towards him, he dodged at the last moment as a Kunai blade plunged itself into the tree, He managed to jump towards the tree line, He kept running, weaving between trees but he felt the numbness spreading throughout his body as his body was clearly fighting off whatever poison his attacker had used.

"Impressive. This particular venom was taken from one of the most dangerous animals on the planet. It can paralyze an elephant in seconds, and yet you still stand." The woman spoke again.

Percy stopped, having a problem catching his breath, the Poison was taking its toll he could feel it.

Just then he had to block another strike from the mysterious woman, He stopped both daggers with his blade just in time and He then proceeded with a counter attack not giving her time to escape. She tried to block his strike, but Riptide did not stop, but instead shattered her Sai to pieces.

Cheshire was that taken by surprise that she did not manage to dodge in time and could only to minimize the damage, Instead of getting hit in her head she received a nasty cut across her left shoulder.

Now it was Percy's turn to be surprised, He was fighting without thinking, letting his instincts take over. He half-expected riptide to pass through her, but instead it had drawm blood.

Cheshire took advantage of the momentary confusion on her targets face and kicked the blade out of his hand at the same time doing a back flip creating some distance as She tossed two more Kunai at him.

But this time Percy was ready for it, he caught one while dodging another. He quickly threw it back with more strength than he thought physically possible. Blade did not hit his Assassin, because she managed to dodge at the last second, but it did not just plunge itself into the tree, but passed through leaving large hole.

"Hey! That wasn't nice. Didn't your mother teach you not to destroy nature?" Cheshire mocked him, but internally she was worried, If she had not dodged the blade she would've been the one with a new hole in her. 

"Didn't yours teach you not to disturb strangers in the forest?" Percy tried to buy himself some time until Riptide returned to his pocket. Sadly, with his rotten luck, it would probably take too long. 

"Oh! Am i disturbing you? Forgive me. Here, let me help you!" She jumped at him drawing her two retractable blades.

At the last moment Percy got out of the way of her blades as he Felt the familiar pen in his pocket, he pulled Riptide and uncapped it. The poison seemed to be completely out of his system now. 

"Ready for round two?" Cheshire snarled, she had underestimated her oppenent at first, a mistake on her part but now she knew, she was prepared to go all out.

"Do your best" Percy growled. The fight carried on, Every time one of them got the advantage, it was quickly negated either by some dirty trick on Cheshires side or Percys skill with a sword. Though Unknown to her, he kept moving the fight closer and closer to the water, He sensed a small stream of water nearby and slowly made his way towards it. The Assassin found herself on the defensive yet again, Percy tried to hold back on his strength not wanting to kill her, Even though riptide managed to mortally wound her, she was no monster, perhaps a legacy with a strong enough connection to the godly side of the family.

Cheshire had no such limitations, The boy impressed her, She had spent most of her life training to be an assassin and her target had come out of nowhere being able to go toe to toe with her. At first, she was irritated, After all this was supposed to be her chance to prove herself better than her father, but now she saw it as an ultimate test of combat prowess. If she took him down there was no doubt that she would replace her father in the Light.

Finally, they arrived near the stream, It wasn't really that big, If someone really wanted they could probably manage to jump over it, it was Maybe 8ft wide, but that was enough for Percy as he faked trying to run to jump over the water. 

Cheshire followed, forgetting about her targets Hydrokinesis abilty. She was caught mid-air by tendrils made of water, holding her in place, making her curse under her breath.

"Uff. Honestly, I didn't know this would work..." Percy was breathing hard, as the Adrenaline started to leave his body and only now had he realized that the fight must have been longer than he thought, either that or the poison was not fully out of his system.

He pulled out a square of ambrosia and ate it, embracing the blissful taste of his mother cookies. Immediately, a rush of energy filled him again. The cut on his shoulder closed, leaving only a faint white scar to remind him of this battle.

Cheshire tried to get out of the tendrils, but they only constricted her more, she was mildly impressed by his abilities, because to her he didnt even seem to be trying, as if the water was a part of him.

Percy willed the water to put her down and bind her hands and legs, The water then solidified into ice, taking away any chances escaping. 

"What are you gonna do with me boy?" Under the mask she frantically tried to find some way of escaping. 

"For starters, let's see who is behind this mask." He tried pulling down the mask, but he got shocked by some sort of safety mechanism.

She laughed "Oh, thank god. For a moment I thought you are actually intelligent." Cheshire mocked.

"Forgive me for not having experience with masked assassins trying to get me, Monsters used to just explode when I cut them enough." Percy growled, He was getting irritated with the situation, Fighting for your life twice in the span of a few hours is enough for him. Being mocked by the person you defeated was also not fun, if he was heartless he would've ended her just for the mocking. He willed the water to tear the mask off, revealing that the assassin was in fact almost his age. "Wow... Aren't you a bit too young to be a professional murderer? I mean not to offend you but you are maybe year older than me."

Cheshire was taken by surprise, This boy really was her age, She thought that maybe he just looks young because For someone her age, having this level of skill meant training practically since primary school or earlier. "What's it too you? Maybe I just look young? Who cares? Just kill me and let me die with honor." She spat at his face. Seriously, being defeated by a youngster and then being fun of for being young? What was this guy thinking?

Percy only shook his head. "I am not gonna kill you. You are definitely not a monster in my sense of the word. Probably just gonna turn you into the authorities and let them sort it out." He said, as he was about to pull her up a helicopter quickly approached their location.

From it jumped a group of men dressed in all black garments with katanas and one man wearing modified football armor and a hockey mask. 

"I told them you would fail, but we did not expect you to get captured so easily. " The man with the hockey mask said and drew a javelin from his pack. "Now that the fun is over be kind... whatever you are supposed to be and come peacefully. It would be a shame to have you killed because of your stupidity."

Seeimg the enemy had the number advantage, Percy turned around and jumped into the stream, Luckily, it was deep enough to allow him to fully submerge while the currents took him away. 

(LINE BREAK)

(SOMEWHERE NEAR POSEIDONIS JULY 24TH)

This time, the currents took Percy nearby Atlantis, he hoped to find his father's palace or at least the ruins of it, He did not expect a whole thriving city. Percy realized that the guy he met this morning might not have been so crazy with being the "King of Atlantis" after all. He decided to retreat and try finding more info back on the land, but it felt like something was calling to him he felt a tug in his gut and a pull to the city.

The familiar feeling of a divine presence. Except It felt a bit like a piece of him, so he decided to investigate, willing the currents to take him to the city. Percy had to hide between the rocks from time to time to avoid patrols of humans with gills, but after what he had seen before, they weren't even close to the top 20 weirdest things he had seen in his life.

Finally, he arrived to more or less where he felt the feeling had come from. Before him stood a large, Greek styled palace with some weird additions, That was exactly the moment his luck run out. He was so amazed by the view that he did not notice a patrol of guards coming from behind him.

"You! Don't move! Who are you and what are you doing here!?" Percy turned to see two men in light armour, Their gear looked Greek but with high-tech modifications.

Instead of following the guys orders, Percy dashed toward the palace, getting as close to the familiar feeling seemed like best idea. The guards started to follow him, but they were no match for the son of Poseidon, He outsped them, but he got reckless again and swam right into another set of guards, Seeing the other patrol chasing him, they immediately prepared for a fight.

Percy controlled the water around them and threw them back. They hit the gates leading to the palace with enough strength to make it open. "Thanks for your kindness." Percy said and quickly swam through the gates ignoring their groaning.

He was now on auto drive, purely following the familiar feeling, the whole palace reminded him of his Father's place, but at the same time it lacked something. Finally, after taking yet another turn, he found himself in front of a large painting showing some king probably. The man looked a bit like his father. Maybe he was a descendant of Poseidon like Frank, or maybe he just looked similar. What killed the impression was the fact that this man had eyes the color of a grey storm like Annabeths instead of usual sea-green.

Percy felt a great power coming from the painting, or rather from behind it. He tried looking for something to open a secret passage, but there was just nothing. Hearing the guards coming, Percy placed his hand on the painting and just focused. The wall as well as the whole wing started to shake. After about three seconds of this earthquake, Percy made one strong pulse and the wall fell apart, with stones closest to the source shattering into small pieces. When dust fell down, there painting was gone, revealing a tunnel. It wasn't what Percy expected. Instead of some dark and gloomy secret passage, he entered a high-tech room with a lab-table, a large and really advanced computer.

What got Percy's attention though was the armor stand with purple and black armor and next to it Poseidon's Trident! That was what called him here. He quickly swam inside and was about to grab the weapon when something hit him in the back. Electricity coursed through him for a moment, followed by a wave of pain.

With the last of his strength, Percy grabbed onto the trident and felt a familiar strength fill him. His father words came back to him. " Claim it as your own and use it." Percy allowed the power of the trident to course through him. At first, it felt similar to holding Zeus' Master Bolt, but this time the weapon did not resist him, Instead, the trident seemed to encourage him. 

Percy turned around to see a man about ten years older than him, with a resemblance to the king he saw on the painting. "WHO ARE YOU?!" The man shouted at Percy. "You are ruining everything!" Just then, the palace guard finally got there.

Immediately, they aimed their lances at Percy ready to shoot. Some looked a bit stunned seeing what seemed to be the lair of the Ocean-Master, the greatest enemy of their king right inside the palace, but that had to wait until after the intruder was deal with.

"Don't just stand there! Open fire and kill the intruder!" The Man that was standing in the room with the guard shouted with anger and a bit of fear in his voice.

The guard tried to follow the order, but before any of high energy bolts hit Percy, he willed the water to form a shield in front of him and then disarmed the guard also using water.

"Can someone explain to me what is going on here?" The new voice came into play. Everyone turned to see Aquaman swimming there with his wife and two of her students. He was followed by another set of guards. 

"My lord! Be careful. We have an intruder. He seems to be working with the Ocean-Master!" One of the guards shouted.

Aquaman tensed a bit, but it did not stop him in any way. He and the rest entered the area. The Guards aimed at Percy, but he again disarmed them.

"It's you again! Who are you and why are you here?" Aquaman started to get irritated with the boy. First, he got beaten by him on land and now this stranger had invaded his own palace.

"If you must really know, my name is Percy Jackson." It might not have been the best decision to reveal anything to them, but Percy wanted to avoid fight. "As for why I am here, my father asked me to retrieve what rightfully belonged to him." At this statement, everyone tensed and prepared to fight. To the Atlanteans, Percy just declared himself son of Ocean-Master.

"Why would Ocean-Master send you to attack us so recklessly. Surely not even you can take down the whole army of Atlantis that is already gathering." Queen Mera wanted to believe that they had the advantage, but after seeing how easily the boy disarmed their guards, she was not so sure. 

"Who is this Ocean-Master everyone keeps talking about? Definitely not my father, unless that's your name for Poseidon, then sure." Percy said.

"Heresy! You can't be son of Poseidon. You are just some pretender." The guards seemed quite angry at his claim. He suddenly understood what this guy in orange must have felt when he laughed at the 'king of Atlantis' thing. Not good that's for sure.

"Ok. First of all, rude. Secondly, I am no pretender. I'm only doing a favor for my father. He wanted me to have his trident and not some mortals. Third and the last, can someone please explain to me what's your problem. Sorry for destroying the wall. I will pay for it. What is this place and where is my father's palace?" Percy asked.

Aquaman was about to say something when Orm shot lightning at Percy. "You really think we will fall for that? You are probably just a spy sent here by Ocean-master." He kept throwing lightning at Percy, but he just aimed the trident and absorbed it all.

"Listen. I don't want to fight you. Like I said before, it's been a tiring few days and now I can add 'attacked by assassin' to the list of why I'm so tired, but don't think I am any less dangerous. Compared to other threats I have faced, you are nothing " At the last part his voice suddenly got lower and darker, sending chill down the spines of all Atlanteans. "What would convince you that I really am a Son of Poseidon? You've seen my power over water and earthquakes, although the latter I am still figuring out. That, " he pointed at the vanquished wall, "was the first time I tried using that power. Sorry for the damage by the way. I will try to pay you... somehow." Percy said casually.

Queen Mera created a ball of hard water. "Anyone with basic magical training can control water. While the power over earthquakes is a rare gift and few are able to master it, that's no proof. Any other abilities you wish to share?" She tossed him the ball, keeping the magic up. To her surprise he looked at the ball and it disappeared in the water. Her spell was not broken. Her magic was just crushed by a much stronger force. Instead of using a counter spell like any trained magician, he willed the water to go away and it did, still being under her spell. She was surprised by the ease with which it was done, but Mera did her best to hide it.

"Well, I can talk with marine and equine life." While Percy did not want to reveal anything, something told him that it was better to play open cards with them. He was also tired and would prefer to avoid conflict.

Queen Mera giggled, covering her mouth with back of her hand. "Look Orin. He can talk to fish just like you." She mocked 

"I don't talk to fish. I command them." Aquaman growled, but also smiled.

Percy got a bit irritated. Sure, most fish and water creatures would gladly do what he asked, but they did it out of respect. If asked, he would help some hippocampi caught in a net or fish stuck in a narrow passage. He was even friends with some of the fish back home. There was also blackjack who would do anything for him (expect stopping calling him boss for some reason). Forcing them to do something against their will? It felt wrong. "I do talk to fish. I do not command them, only ask politely. They have emotions and ordering them around is just..." 

"Could you perhaps politely ask some fish to come here?" One of the guards mocked Percy, but he just shrugged. Instead of answering, he tried reaching out to some marine life nearby. It just so happened that he sensed a large group near the group of Atlanteans, so he tried sending the message. At that, all the people present except Percy winced as they heard a loud voice in their head. 

"What was that? Some kind of a psychic attack? Why was it so loud?" Guards were in small disarray, which Orin used to make his escape. He now only had to destroy the evidence.

"I believe I accidentally tried to mentally communicate with you. Apparently, you are a type of marine life by my standard, so technically you are under the control of my father. Sorry. None of the fish ever had problem with it."

"Still, not proof of anything. One of my friends is a telepath." Aquaman was still unconvinced. There were just too many loose pieces. 

"Look man. If I could, I would just ask my father for a sign or something, but this is supposed to be a world without gods. They abandoned it centuries ago and can't come back. That's one of the reasons I am here." Percy growled out.

Most Atlanteans were startled by the declaration. "Heretic! What do you know about our gods?!" Some of the guards started shouting at Percy, but he just laughed.

"Well, answering your question I know quite a lot about them since I met most of them personally and even if I did not, they managed to ruin my life in one way or another." This only infuriated them more, but Percy was not finished. "My father, ol' Drama Queen a.k.a Zeus, Queen Bitch Hera, the Brainless meatloaf that is Ares, Aphrodite, Well, Apollo is kinda cool when he doesn't try to make you listen to his poetry... Artemis is a scary one." He wanted to go on and on but seeing the rest dumbstruck at his speech he stopped there. "So yeah, I met them, fought some of them, saved others... You know, the usual." He said.

Just when he finished speaking the whole building shook with an explosion. The Ceiling cracked and large and heavy parts started falling. Queen Mera and her students tried to stop it, but she was hit by some falling debris and Lost consciousness. 

Others did not have enough experience and power to do it. The whole wing of the palace was falling apart and the cliff on which it was standing broke apart from the rest. The guard quickly split up trying to get civilians out of the area while the rest did their best to warn people on lower levels.

Suddenly, everything stopped. Water solidified like when someone made a construct, but now it was around the whole palace wing. Percy was holding the trident high and the blades shined with blue light. Everything started to return to their places, with broken places being repaired with ice.

"That should give you enough time to repair the most crucial parts and get everyone out before the ice melts." That was the last thing Percy said before he fell unconscious. 

(LINE BREAK)

(WATCHTOWER, 24TH OF JULY)

Percy woke up in some white room. Even before he opened eyes, he felt something metallic around his wrists, once he finally battled the feeling of tiredness, he tried looking around, but the overwhelming lights momentarily blinded him.

When his sight returned, he noticed two heavy cuffs attached by chains to the bed, No matter how hard he pulled, they would not break. What also occured to him was that he was no longer under water, there were no windows in the room and he could not sense much water, there was some in the pipes and there was a huge tank about three levels below.

"I see you are awake. Now we will talk." A dark, gloomy voice spoke from the shadows. The Man dressed like a bat walked into the light, seeing one of the people that attacked him when he first arrived, Percy tried getting out of the bindings, but with no success.

The doors to the room opened and a woman walked in. "I wouldn't bother, These chains were made to hold Ares, the god of war." The woman stated.

Knowing he was trapped, Percy stopped the struggle and settled on looking unhappy. "What do you people want. Look. I apologize for attacking your friend, but he started it." Percy said with some anger.

"I think it's us that should ask for forgiveness, We misinterpreted the situation and the paranoia of a certain Bat got into our heads. You were confused and we should have helped instead of trying to detain you." The woman spoke calmly, but the man/bat tensed at her words. "We are curious as to why are you here and what your issue with Aquaman is?" 

Percy pondered the words in his head. On one hand, these people tried to catch him a few hours ago, but on the other hand he did attack their colleague twice already. "I don't really have an issue with him, we just so happen to stumble into one another often enough. If I didn't know any better, I would say that the Fates still play with me. They promised to leave me alone though…"

While Batman had no idea what the boy was speaking about, Wonder Woman frowned. "Aquaman mentioned that you claim to be son of Poseidon and that the gods abandoned this world long ago. Is that why you came here? To escape their wrath?" Wonder woman asked.

"Not exactly. This was supposed to be my reward. To be free of them. No more fighting, no more wars, no more deaths." Percy answered honestly.

The last two statements took both leaguers by surprise. The boy in front of them looked young. He probably wasn't even an adult yet. The documents they found by him were obviously fake and he just confirmed he was from another world. But wars as in more than one. Deaths… This was not something someone so young should experience.

Diana wanted to do something to reassure him, but she couldn't find the words.

"And why did you storm the Atlantean Palace?" Batman kept his voice emotionless, even if inside he was a bit shaken

"That was also an accident… Kind of, I got there by accident, While in a forest, I was attacked by some… assassin and when I made my escape, I wished the currents to take me to safety. Guess I subconsciously thought of my father's palace as the next safest place underwater." Percy answered.

The mention of an assassin had the leaguers even more surprised. "This assassin. Who was he?" Batman asked.

"It was a woman and I have no idea, Newsflash, I arrived in this world this morning, I don't exactly have any knowledge of anyone or anything in this world. Not to be rude but I don't even know who you are supposed to be, but my gut is telling me to trust you." Percy shook the chains. "Not that I really have a choice." He tried to move into a more comfortable position, but something was bothering him. Even with limited mobility imposed by the chains, he managed to pull some golden line from under him. "What is that supposed to be?" He asked curiously.

Wonder Woman looked a bit ashamed, "That is my lasso of truth. We wanted to make sure you wouldn't lie to us." She explained.

"Cool. A bit uncomfortable to sit on, but cool." Percy replied.

"You are not angry. Many consider it invasion of privacy." Diana asked the man in front of her, as he didnt seem bothered at all, which was normally the case when she used her lasso.

"Nah, The Gods never really stop watching me, They made my life into reality show somewhere around my second quest, i gave up on scolding them about it somewhere around halfway through the second giant war. Plus, Apollo can do exactly the same just by looking at you." Percy told her casually, as if scolding the gods was a regular occurrence, Which to him it was.

"You… scolded the gods? How is that you are still walking, back when they still visited Themiscyra they would smite anyone who disrespected them." Diana asked.

"Oh they tried many times to smite or humiliate me, but I beat them." He answered with a smile, recalling some of the fights.

The last sentence literally left Diana open-mouthed. She couldn't bring herself to utter a single sound. "You defeated them? As in killed?" She asked with worry.

"No! Sorry I should learn to word things better, I just bested them. Some held a grudge later, but no one really dared to defy Poseidon's will. And I saved their arses more times than I can count. Besides, Gods can't be truly killed." He told her

"Well, for your information I did kill Ares." Diana was analyzing what the boy said. It didn't make a lot of sense, How could it be that there was a whole different world where the gods resided. There was something not right.

"Yeah… Pretty sure you did not. I spoke to him right before arriving to this world. He is still bitter after I defeated him last time." Percy said.

Diana took a step back, This boy was only seventeen or eighteen, and yet he defeated Ares already. He was also holding the lasso of truth, so he couldn't lie. "But…" she started before she was interrupted.

"Look. As much as I enjoy the talk, I don't like bragging about myself and I am starting to get hungry. Maybe instead you and Mr. Creeping-in-the-shadows over there could tell me about yourself, from what I've seen this world is really different from where I come from. Also…" Percy shook his hands causing the chains to make a cling.

"Well, you've been honest with us, so I think a proper introduction would be in order. My name is Diana of Themiscyra, but to world I am known as Wonder Woman. And the man in the shadows is Batman. We are part of the Justice League of America, a group of superheroes protecting this world from danger."

"Nice. Anything you wish to share about you? I guess that 'Aquaman' already told you about my powers." Percy asked.

"Well, I am an Amazon, daughter of Zeus. I can… " Diana started.

"Fly? Control Wind currents? Shoot lightning?" Percy interrupted her.

"Well, out of the three of it I can fly. I am also stronger than most. It was Quite surprising when you managed to tackle me during our first meeting." Diana replied, she found herself liking Percy, he was easy going despite their first meeting.

"Yeah, That is something I've been trying to figure out since I arrived here. The air here… This whole world feels like it is full of energy, I feel it coursing through me. It only doubled after I grabbed my father's trident. What happened with it by the way?" Percy asked.

"Secure in the League's vault for safekeeping. No, you may NOT have it back" Batman was still trying to get a read on this teenager, On one hand he was honest and said he means well, but his actions contradict his words. First the fight in amnesty bay, then almost bringing down half the Poseidonis with his powers. This kid was a mystery, a loose cannon, Something that Bat could not just let go unsupervised.

Percy did not like the answer. He could understand their suspicion, but nonetheless it was irritating. "Now that I answered your questions, may I go? I have to settle a life for myself here."

"For now you will stay in our custody until we decide what to do with you." Batman stated.

"Yeah… That's not gonna be happening, i will repeat, I came to this world for a fresh start, sure I did not expect superheroes and 'Atlanteans', but it doesn't change my plans and if you think you can keep me here against my will then you are truly mistaken." Percy warned batman a slight edge to his voice.

"You are a liability, a loose cannon, a ticking time bomb, With that much power that you seem to hold, we can't allow you to go running around without supervision." Batman snapped back, a little unnerved by the boys words.

Diana frowned at Batman's statement, it's not something that she agrees with, the boy seemed genuine to her. "He means he can't allow you. I however disagree." She sent batman a glare. "He is right though. You can't really just go around as if nothing will happen, You mentioned an assassin. I am pretty sure she did not want to go for the kill, but rather she tried to abduct you so someone could wipe your memory and make you into their new weapon of mass destruction." Diana said calmy, whilst she did not agree with batman, she would not allow Percy to think it will be a walk in the park to have that peaceful life he hoped for.

At the mention of mind wiping Percy clenched his fists. A flashback from his 'adventure' with Hera returned to him, but he ignored it and instead sent his patented wolf stare at batman and wonder woman. "I can manage." He grit out through clenched teeth.

Both heroes actually flinched, both were used to statements like that but the glare, it was a glare that said 'no matter how bad anything is, I can be worse.' It was pretty scary especially coming from a teenager. It truly got the leaguers that this kid was a war veteran, not some inexperienced boy trying to play hero.

"Maybe you did manage to deal with the last one, but they will keep coming. This world is full of powerful people, some are fighting for the cause of good, but others pursue their own goals. You cannot defeat them all, No one can. That's why the League was created in the first place." Batman did not want to let the kid go, but there was little they could do.

"So my choice is either running for the rest of my life and looking over my shoulder, becoming slave of some evil maniac or playing hero? That's what you are trying to say?" Percy got really pissed. "Remind me to kick the next god I meet in the place where Apollo doesn't shine hard enough to see them cry." He was really angry. The gods had played him again, This was supposed to be his reward, his peace after years of wars. Instead, immediately after he got here he gets pulled into some shady game between good and evil. The three hags planned it. They deliberately sent me to a place where I would catch the attention of a superhero. What are the chances that you stumble upon a superhero just by walking into a bar?

"Slow down, okay?" Diana couldn't decide whether to be scared or amused by the boy's threat. "There might be another option. We could put you under witness protection or send you to Atlantis if Aquaman agrees. We will try to figure something out and come back to you." Diana finished.

" Thank you cousin " Percy replied with a little smile, it was nice to know he had at least one family member In this world.

" Cousin? " Both Diana and batman said at the same time, batman was confused on what Percy could mean and Diana had a little smile, she had never had a male cousin before.

Percy smiled at Diana, " yeah cousin, my father and her father are brothers after all which would make us first cousins" Percy said with a grin.

Diana just nodded her head with a grin of her own as she and batman left.

As the they left, Percy tried to rest, but too many thoughts swirled in his mind. Memories of the friends he left, people he lost during the wars, finally, his mother, She had built a happy life for herself, he had left her a letter explaining the situation and that he loved her, as the gods would not allow him one last visit. Then, his mind jumped to Annabeth. How she chose immortality over him. Throwing away his love for it.

Percy Pulled riptide out and uncapped it, Immediately, a familiar weight appeared in his hand, He looked at his reflection in the shining celestial bronze blade. No longer was he that naive twelve year old that wanted so bad to save his mother. He grew, he changed and it was time to accept reality. If there was no hope for him to have a peaceful life, maybe at least he can give hope to others.

(LINE BREAK)

The league sat in the meeting room, Before them played different video feeds showing Percy's battles with the league and the Antlanteans. 

"The boy definitely has skills and training." Hawkwoman finally broke the silence.

"Agreed. Also, in terms of raw power he surpasses all sorcerers of Atlantis to ever live, Singlehandedly stopping half of the palace from collapsing. That is just... Comparing it to Atlantean magic is like comparing a horse to car." Aquaman chimed in on the discussion.

"So what are we gonna do with him? Right now he is just a confused teenager that has nowhere to go." Superman was mildly concerned about the mentioned assassination attempt. "We ought to protect him, but instead we are locking him in medical ward below. If what he told us is true..."

"It is." Diana was getting tired of the inner politics of The Justice league. "There was no lie in his words. Once he held the Lasso of Truth, lying would have been impossible, no one's been able to beat the lasso and facts check out. Only thing we don't know is whether his information is complete or not. I feel there is some more to it than that." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "He claims that the gods sent him here as a reward, He wished to go to a world where the gods couldn't influence him, For him gods aren't concepts, but rather beings of flesh and blood, or ichor if you wish, that hold immense power. Like me, he is half-god" Diana finished.

"His blood test confirms that he is not fully human, His DNA structure is similar to that of Diana, but also mildly similar to that of Aquaman." Batman pressed some buttons and three strands of DNA appeared on screen. "I sent the team to apprehend him after the battle, but before they arrived he was already gone. They had a run in with Sportsmaster and an assassin known as Cheshire, confirming that Percy was in fact attacked in the forest. Someone has put a bounty on his head already."

"So what now? We put him in witness protection and move on?" Flash spoke up while at the same time eating one of his energy bars.

"It's not that simple. We need to monitor him. He will always be a target, and once the word gets out about the attack on Atlantis more people will want to get their hands on him. We must make sure that he is safe. Normal witness protection won't do." Batman's words put the league down. The boy was now their responsibility.

Some felt guilty for pulling him into this mess, Especially Aquaman, It was his pride that initiated the whole conflict.

"Maybe ask him what he wants?" Green arrow offered, believing the man had a say in his future.

"Right now he only wants peace, but given the current situation it won't be easy, if at all possible, he must have really angered the gods to receive such a cruel punishment. Promise of peace only to be sent right into another war." Diana shook her head.

"That, is why I'm an atheist. But back on the subject. I may have an idea. What if we made our own witness protection Maybe he could leave with The Team. Some of the members lead a double life." Arrow offered a solution.

"No way. I don't trust him. It would be too much of a risk." Batman immediately shut the idea down.

Martian manhunter thought for a moment before speaking. "We must decide what is the bigger risk A. letting him in, or B. sending him off on his own." he said

"Let's bring him in here and let him speak for himself. Maybe he will offer us some more insight." Green lantern spoke from his seat. "Its only fair for him to have a voice in this."

"I disagree. He is in no position to negotiate." Batman tried to protest.

Diana grabbed the edge of the table in response to Batman's reaction. "He is not one of your villains or thugs to beat, He is a teenager lost in an unfamiliar, strange world. A war veteran that hoped for peace, You have no right to try holding him against his will and if you try, I will stand by his side." She said fiercely.

"So will I" Superman joined Diana, in his mind they were the good guys.

"And I. If we just try locking him up, we are no better than those who sent the assassins." Canary joined the opposition, she didn't know the boy but she was against but she'd be dammed before she went against her own morals.

"Fine. Bring him in, but don't take the chains off yet. In case I am right." Batman finally submitted.

After about five minutes Diana returned with Percy, but he did not wear the chains, the teen was massaging his wrists.

"Finally. Cool place, Not as great as Olympus, but comfortable none the less." Percy said with a grin.

"We wanted to ask you something..." Superman started uncomfortable, not exactly sure how to form the question, thankfully the young man interrupted knowing what he wanted to ask.

"I thought it over." Percy's attitude suddenly changed from joking and easy-going to serious. "Out of the three options, I prefer to be a hero. The other two options suck just like my old life back where I came from." This took the league by surprise.

"So now you want to what? Play hero?" Batman tried to send his worst glare at the teen, but boy just answered with one of his own, which caused Batman to flinch and back down.

The other members of the league just silently observed the exchange, impressed by how easily Percy won the glare contest with big scary bat himself.

"First of all I don't 'play hero, on my world I had little say in the matter, hunted by monsters and doing quests for god's you couldn't refuse from the age of twelve. And certainly doesn't feel like I have a choice now. My life taught me a few things though One - The Lone wolf act will get you nowhere. Two - Everyone deserves a second chance. Three: Always make sure the oath is binding." On the last one he chuckled. "Guess the last one I am still in the process of learning. Anyway, my point is you are right, I probaly won't survive out there alone, I will need your help. So maybe let's start over. I am Percy Jackson and I am demigod, son of Poseidon." He extended his hand toward Batman, but vigilante rejected it.

"I will be watching you closely. For now, let's discuss the details." Batman said ignoring the hand.


	3. 3

(THEMYSCIRA, AUGUST 17TH) 

Percy blocked his two attackers with his trident and countered with a wide slash, His mind was working on overdrive, analyzing the situation.

He decided to move back to create some space and better utilize the range advantage his trident gave him. He caught the sword one of the attackers used as she went for another strike and locked it in his trident, then with quick snap of his wrist the blade was flying away, ' Who knew Luke's disarming technique worked so well with tridents once adapted.' Percy thought.

One swift move later the first attacker was on the ground, The other, realizing she was at a disadvantage started to play dirty. Slashing the sword on sandy ground and sending dirt towards Percy the hoping to distract him and get him to let his guard down.

But Percy simply spun around the dirt using the other end of his trident to make his opponent lose balance, After that a quick kick was enough to send his attacker flying. Her Sword flew from her hand and Percy pointed his weapon at her throat. "Yield?" He asked grinning, having enjoyed the spar.

"Fine. You win this time. But I want a rematch some day." Donna frowned, but deep down she was impressed. This mysterious demigod was able to best every Amazon in single combat, and now he proceeded with fighting them in groups. She and Artemis were supposed to be best of the best among their ranks, but he didn't even break a sweat while knocking them down.

"Sure you will. Just not in this century." Joked Percy as he extended his hand which she took. having sensed Artemis approaching from behind to attack, he made a quick jab with the blunt part of his trident and she was sent back. "Not cool. I did not expect such dishonorable behavior from you." Percy laughed as the other Amazon tried to stand up, but fell back down because of pain. 

"Stupid demigod reflex. If you weren't a demigod, I would have defeated you already." Artemis said. After that she added a string of colorful curses in ancient Greek, to which Percy only smiled.

He then turned to Diana,who was observing the whole event. "So?" He asked. 

"I'm impressed. You really are the greatest swordsman I've seen, But let's see how you do against someone that can match you in power." Diana smiled as she jumped into the arena drawing her Sword.

Percy only smiled and readied his trident. "Bring it on Princess."

Diana dashed at Percy, but at the last moment she sidestepped left and tried making a jab, but it was blocked by the shaft of his trident, she proceeded with more slashes and a few jabs, but Percy blocked or dodged them all, Whilst she was trying her best to hit him, he went on the defensive looking for an opportunity.

When Diana made an overhead slash, he intercepted it with his trident and locked the blade on the ground. He then used his weapon like a jumping pole to boost himself and launch a kick at her head.

To dodge, Diana had to let go of her sword, which she did. Now Percy stood between her and her weapon. He smiled and kicked the blade away, making it unlikely she will be able to get it before the fights end. So she took a battle stance and made a welcoming gesture, feeling the adrenaline course through her.

With a grin on his face, Percy launched himself using the trident like a bo staff, He swiped high, making Diana duck, at the same time, he opened himself for her to make a low kick, She made him loose balance enough to grasp his weapon and try throwing it away from him or at least to the ground. 

But Percy held the trident firmly and used it as a leverage, while falling on his back and kicking her back. He then jumped on his feet and pointed his trident at her neck, but before he could say anything she swiped his feet from under him, sending him crashing to the floor again.

Diana Then took advantage of this as she pulled out a small knife and pressed it to his throat, but as soon as she did she felt something pointed near her heart. "I would call it a draw." Percy smiled at Diana.

She frowned at first, but also smiled and helped him stand up. "I don't know how, but you are able to match me in combat every time. Well done. Although I am not sure my mother will be happy with how today's training session turned out. The Amazons' pride is already down now that this, and I quote, 'insolent male' came to Themyscira and started wiping the arena with each of them. Hearing that you matched me in fair battle will be like a slap on the face. I don't know how much longer they will tolerate you, before ganging up on you fifty versus one." Diana laughed before going to pick her sword. 

" Tell the queen I apologize, and that I would hold back but i suspect that will wound the Amazons' pride even more than beating them would and I respect women to much to do that." Percy said honestly with a frown on his face.

Diana took a moment to think on his words and finding them to be true she sent him a smile.

Percy chased after her. "So? When will i be able to join the league? Don't get me wrong. It's nice here and I like training, but it feels too much like a prison here, No offence to the other Amazons, but they act too much like... Like they want to put me in an orange jumpsuit and make me move boxes around." Percy said with a chuckle, thinking about the Amazons' from his world.

"Patience, Your skills are really impressive and you're a quick study when regarding the customs of this world, but some members would prefer to have you stay here permanently. We can't allow that, but there is still much to be done before you can be brought into the spotlight." Diana replied.

At Diana's words Percy frowned. Sure, spending a few weeks training was a good break, but on Themyscira he had no friends and no real way of making any. He was bound to a specific timetable, he couldn't explore the island or even leave his room without supervision. The only thing to do was either train or study. He already had a pretty good grasp on the world he found himself in. The more he read, the more he wanted to kick the gods where Apollo doesn't shine using Thalia's boots with the reinforced steel toe caps. He had also learned how to use his father's trident as his main weapon. Turns out that he was a natural with it.

"My father used to say that the 'Sea cannot be contained and it is dangerous to try.' I agreed to be a hero not to be locked on a remote island somewhere in the Mediterranean sea." The lack of fun was killing him. At some point Percy considered writing a book about his life, but abandoned it after the first chapter, there was no point and writing was boring, His ADHD kept acting up. He needed some action. 

"Well, there is one more option. Batman formed a team for special cases. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Superboy and Green Arrow's new protege Artemis. I could get you a place there. This would be a chance for you to prove yourself and earn a place in the League." Diana wasn't convinced the team would be a good place for Percy, but it was the only alternative to being confined on Themyscira.

"So basically I would become what? A glorified errand boy for big scary bat?!" Percy got really pissed. The earth around him began to slightly shake. "No. I'm done with being a servant, a tool, anything but equal. Right now this Batman is acting like a god. And to remind you, I'm done with gods." Percy was not happy.

"I know Percy, but the League will be accepting new members in late December. Do You think you could at least try working with the Team until then? It would be a chance for you to get field experience." Diana reasoned softly, she had become quite close with Percy the past few weeks and really considered him family.

"Or I could just jump into the ocean and become a hero all by myself. Like I said. Nothing but an equal." Percy raged at the Amazon and the tremor increased.

"Perseus Jackson! Calm down now and try to think for a moment. The league was created to enforce and embrace certain values. One of them is teamwork. Also, aren't you acting like the gods by claiming that this team is below you?" Diana pulled one last card out of her sleeve turning Percy's words against him.

Hearing the last part he calmed, but still looked unhappy. "Fine. You win, but I will join on my rules." Percy said, he really like Diana he didn't want to upset her.

"Great. I will talk things through with Batman and the others. You can start packing." Diana was happy that she finally got Percy to agree.

Percy was happy that he was leaving this paradise prison. For a moment he thought he would miss Donna. She was truly the only one that actually talked to him and treated him as a equal rather than an intruder.

(MOUNT JUSTICE AUGUST 18TH)

Recognized: Wonder Woman, 0-3 Recognized: Perseus Jackson B0-8 

The team eagerly awaited the arrival of the mysterious new member. After what they witnessed three weeks ago, it was really something special. 

(FLASHBACK) 

After arriving at the last known location of the suspect, the team found themselves on a hill in the forest, the place would've looked almost peaceful if not for the large hole in one of the trees.

Robin pressed a button on his glove and scanned the area, there were some particles of an unknown metal in the hole, but not enough to conduct a full analysis.

"He was here, but I think we missed him. Now maybe let's go get some snacks. Im hungry. You want to go get some pizza together sunshine?" Kid flash directed the last question to M'gann.

"Focus. He may be gone, but there might still be some clues about where he went." Aqualad started to look around.

"Ugh, Guys! I think I found something." Superboy was holding a small dart with a green substance at the end.

"I think he wasn't alone here." Robin run an analysis on the poison, but he already knew what to expect from the shape of the dart. "League of Shadows. This poison is strong enough to take down Bane."

"There is also a trail of broken branches leading deeper into the forest." Miss M pointed at one of the trees.

The Team followed the trail, but their pace was rather slow because Robin kept insisting on stopping by to analyze random holes in trees. Or at least random to Wally, because it turned out that they were made quite recently by a projectile weapon, most likely a kunai.

Finally, the team arrived at a small glade, the grass was red in some places, Yet another quick analysis revealed that the blood belonged to an assassin known as Cheshire, associated with the League of Shadows.

Wally found some metallic shards that Robin took for further study, but the evidence suggested that the fight carried on outside the glade.

As they were about to leave, Superboy found a tree with a large hole in it, "Whoever attacked this tree was angry." He pointed at the hole in the middle and then at the tree behind the first one.

"Or really strong. Team! Stay on alert. We don't know if whoever battled here left or what his endgame is." Aqualad ordered the team and took the lead, following the trail into the woods.

The longer they followed, the more visible the destruction became. In retrospect it looked like they both were holding back at first, but now the trees were much more devastated by the prolonged fight, they got to the end near some stream. There, the trail suddenly turned cold. 

"He must have traveled through water. Didn't Aquaman mention that he swims fast. He must have used it to escape Cheshire." M'gann asked "There aren't any blood traces." She added.

"You are right. It is possible, but maybe she managed to subdue him. We must report back to the cave. This is getting fishy." Robin decided. 

(END FLASHBACK)

Now looking back some of the Team members were happy that they did not meet him back then. If a fight had started, there sure they would loose painfully.

Aqualad had a chance to witness the power this boy held when he went to visit Atlantis. He was called back after the investigation revealed that Prince Orm was in fact the Ocean-Master, now a wanted fugitive all across the Atlantis.

Batman stood there with his arms crossed. "I see someone managed to finally convince the boy to accept the invitation." He said the last words with sarcasm. 

Percy rolled his eyes at the bat. "I did not agree to anything yet. I said I will come and see, i don't know if I'll stay but don't expect me to be your little errand boy." 

"Doesn't he kinda remind you of Speedy?" Wally leaned over to Robin and whispered to him. Percy looked their way and they both immediately knew that he had heard them.

Robin stepped forward. "Hi. Glad to finally meet the person that gave bat a headache of the decade. How did you manage to piss him off so much?"

"Let's say that it's in my nature" Percy gave Robin and the rest his mischievous smile. "I will tell you later. right now I would really like to get my bags to my room and settle in." 

"Hello Megan! Of course. Follow me. Right this way." Miss M. started flying into one of the corridors. Percy shrugged. He picked up his bags and followed in.

Once the two were gone Batman turned to Diana. "You sure this is the best way?" 

"This teen needs to spend some time with other people The only thing we can do is at least give him space to do so or he will end up running away on his own. Last thing we need is another 'Speedy' to keep tabs on." Diana replied.

"I hope you're right." Batman said 

"How is the work on the suit for him going by the way?" Diana wanted to go already, but at last moment remembered about the gear Percy designed.

"I made some improvements for the design, but otherwise it will be ready for tomorrow." Batman gave one last look round the cave before the familiar sound of the zeta tube was heard.

(LINE BREAK)

After Megan had shown Percy his new room he started settling in, but after about fifteen minutes someone knocked on the door and before Percy had a chance to answer, the door opened and Kid Flash barged in.

"We are going to have a bonfire on the beach. You coming or what?" Wally asked.

At first, Percy wanted to answer 'or what' for the fun of irritating this dude, but he decided to drop it. After all he came here to have some fun and finally meet other people. "Fine. Let's go."

The two arrived at the beach to see everyone else already settled. It was already dark, but the summer nights were warm and fire gave enough light to let everyone see clearly. 

"Nice of you to join us Perseus." Aqualad greeted Percy, but he winced at the sound of his full name.

"It's just Percy. When someone calls me Perseus they usually want to kill me or I'm in some sort of trouble, Pleasure is all mine. After spending three weeks on Themyscira I would give anything for some quality fun time. So? What's the plan?" Percy asked

The team was surprised by his open nature. After the description they received from a few member of the League they expected an angsty teenager with anger management issues. A Second superboy not another Wally.

"Well, usually we toast marshmallows and tell stories..." Megan began. 

"Cool. Do you also sing?" Percy got excited. This was finally a chance for him to have some sembelance of a normal life.

"No. No one here really knows how to sing." Superboy put him down.

"So what? The fun is IN the fact that no one can. I will start and you join me. Who's in?." Percy asked.

The team looked at one another unsure what to do. Seeing their hesitation, Percy started singing. As soon as he started, all their eyes turned to him.

His voice was crystal clear and he never missed a tone. After one song he carried on with another and another while they all listened, holding their breathes so they didnt accidentally interrupt him. Finally, after the third song Percy stopped and took his glass of lemonade.

The shock he left them slowly started to wear off. "That... that was... Where did you learn to sing like that?" Artemis finally managed to speak up. 

"Hm?" Percy got confused. "Nowhere. I don't know how to sing." After seeing their open mouths he facepalmed. "Of course. Apollo's blessing. Guess I will have to thank him for that... after I kick him." Percy said with a chuckle.

"Yeah right. And the real version? You can't expect us to believe that some old god blessed you and suddenly you can sing. It takes years of practice to learn that." Wally shook his head.

"You guys know who I am right?" Seeing their puzzled looks Percy just gave his signature mischievous grin. "Oh. That explains much. Let me introduce myself. I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

While most of them were staring at Percy not knowing how to respond, Wally started laughing uncontrollably "Yeah right! And Im a kryptonian. Seriously. Who do you take us for? We are supposed to suddenly believe that you are fish Jesus or something?" Wally asked.

Percy only chuckled and walked toward the ocean. The water crept to him and suddenly shot up into his grasp, forming the Trident that solidified and turned golden, the sea rose behind him into a giant wave with a hole in the middle looking like a winged horse. A glowing trident appeared over his head. "Does this serves as enough proof?" Percy looked at the rest of the team grinning widely. His his green eyes glowing in the dark.

Robin and superboy were staring at him with awe clear on their faces, Artemis took a step back and Miss M opened her mouth to say something, but closed it not finding any words. Aqualad quickly rose from his seat and knelt before Percy. "My lord. I had no idea. Forgive me for..." Kaldur started. 

"Whoa! Slow down. I did it just for the fun of seeing your faces. No need to jump on one knee." Percy said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Wally smiled. "So you admit this was just a joke? HA! I knew it I am right. There are no gods and magic doesn't exist. Science wins again" wally looked well pleased with himself. 

"No. I am a son of Poseidon, its just that I don't want anyone to kneel in front of me because of that. It's enough that fish mistake me for my father in this world." He gave out another chuckle. " Plus just because there are things that scientists cannot explain does not make them any less real, gods, magic, extraterrestrials, in one universe or another there as real as you sitting on the beach now."

"Not buying it. You are just an alien. Or half alien. Or Atlantean. Or atlantean-alien hybrid." Kid Flash frowned not wanting to believe.

"On mars we place great value and trust in our Priests." Megan said.

Hearing that, Wally's attitude made a one eighty change. "Of course. Magic is totally cool. I love magic. Maybe we could go somewhere private to compare notes?" Wally asked.

This earned a disapproving glare from Artemis and a chuckle from Percy. The Rest of the evening was spent telling stories from their personal lifes. 

At first Percy was reclutant to share, not exactly comfortable with telling them about wars, but he finally settled on telling them about some 'accidents' regarding his school life. The tale about how he dropped the whole class in the shark pool earned an applause from Wally.

(LINE BREAK)

The next evening Superboy and Kaldur were engaged in sparring practice, Megan and Artemis watched and talked about which of their teammates the other should date.

Percy was standing at the back, enjoying the show. Finally, SB got the advantage and threw Aqualad, using the trick Canary showed him.

"Good battle. I am curious though. Who would win if you did not hold back on your powers." Percy knew that both of them just kept too practicing hand-to-hand combat, not using any powers, It was different at CHB, where most of the time demigods were taught to utilize all and every advantage they had.

"The point is to be able to fight without powers. There might be a time when you won't be able to use them and then what?" Kaldur gave Percy the same peptalk Canary gave SB some time back.

" Oh I know that I was just curious is all. " Percy replied easily.

"Come train with us. Come on. Show me some of these 'demigod moves' of yours." Wally mocked Percy still not believe his half god.

"You're on." Was Percy's only response.

Wally wanted to back out, but Megan was standing right next to him. He just gulped and jumped onto the platform.

Percy and Wally took a battle stance and waited for the other. Finally, Wally attacked with a right hook, Percy just ducked and retaliated with an uppercut. Wally was sent flying and landed on the ground. Big red DEFEATED appeared over his head. Percy turned, he was about to ask Superboy to spar.

Wally gritted his teeth. This guy was getting on his nerves. First he comes here talking magic mumbo-jumbo and now he knocks him down in one punch? Wally had enough. He zoomed with super speed aiming another strike at the back of Percy's head, but to his surprise the boy turned around and simply caught his fist, Percy gave him a wide grin before throwing him over his shoulder and onto the floor with a hard slam.

"Wow. You are acting like Artemis. She is also a sore looser." Realizing that the blonde in the room started to give him a glare, he quickly added. "I meant the Amazon I used to train with. She never accepted defeat either. Sorry if I went too hard on you this time. When my reflexes kick in I have a harder time controlling my strength."

"And how strong exactly are you?" Superboy chimed in.

"Well, from what I managed to figure out, I can stand toe to toe with Wonder Woman. It would make sense since we are both children of big three." Seeing their puzzled faces he clarified "Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The three sons of Kronos and Rhea. There is also the fact that this whole world is overcharged with magic. Since arriving here I got stronger, my powers have increased in magnitude and I have got some degree of invulnerability. When I once sparred with Diana head-on with all tricks allowed we ended up wrecking the arena, the queen was not happy, I had to learn to control my strength so as not to accidentally kill any mortals."

"You can go toe to toe with Wonder Woman? Sorry but I have a hard time believing that. She is like... Superman level strong." Superboy was unconvinced. This teen has come out of nowhere claiming he can stand toe to toe with the best of the best. 

"Wanna do an arm wrestle?" Percy offered with a smile but inside he was a little irritated with people underestimating him.

"You're on." Superboy smiled and walked to the table. He and Percy locked hands and Kaldur gave the mark to being.

At first they were equal, but slowly Percy showed a little more strength, Soon, superboy found himself almost defeated. In a last desperate attempt he put his whole strength in the push, but Percy returned the push with even more strength. Suddenly, before either could win, the table broke into pieces.

"WHoa! That... was some show." Kaldur constantly shifted to look from one boy to the other.

"Good play. you almost got me at the end." Percy extended his hand to congratulate superboy. Everyone expected Connor to rage at Percy, but to their surprise he took it.

"You aren't that bad." Just then Red tornado came into the room.

Wally immediately zoomed to him and started pestering him for a mission.

"Missions assignments are Batmans responsibility" red tornado told him patiently.

"He is playing Dynamic Duo with Robin back in Gotham, but you are heading somewhere. So? you got a date or a mission?" Wally did not want to give up.

"We can be of help if you need us." Kaldur added. 

Red turned around and a hologram of an old man appeared. "this is Kent Nelson. A friend. He is one hundred and six years old. He has been missing for twenty three days. Kent was a member of the Justice Society. A precursor of your mentors Justice League."

"Of course! Nelson was earth's greatest sorcerer. He was doctor fate." Kaldur enlightened the rest.

Hearing that, Wally snorted. He wanted to say something, but Percy sent him a glare that silenced him. This guy can joke one moment and then turn dead serious. What is his problem? 

"Kent may simply be on one of his... walkabouts, but he is the caretaker of the helmet of fate, the source of Doctor's mystic might. And it is unwise to leave such power unguarded." Red informed them.

"He is like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars. I would be honored to help find him." Megan said.

Hearing Megan volunteer, Wally immediately raised his hand. "ME TOO! So honored I can barely stand still. Magic... rocks." Wally trailed off at the end. At the back Artemis rolled her eyes.

Red Tornado pulled out some weird metal thing. "Take this. It is a key to the Tower of Fate." Red said. Not that Wally was listening as he ignored anything and tried to flirt with Megan, but she only smiled kindly in response clearly not interested.

"One more question." Percy came to Tornado. "Did Batman maybe send something for me?"

"Yes. The outfit you designed is already in your room." Red simply pointed toward the living quarters before leaving the team to prepare.

His new suit was made of something batman called Titanium-carbon alloy fiber, which Percy shortened to Tiber Metal. His shoulders, elbows and some parts of his chest were protected by bronze reinforcement. The gloves contained a supply of water that he could control, similar to Aqualad's backpack. On his chest there was a large golden trident that stood out from the overall deep blue color scheme. The Same image was emblazoned on each shoulder guard. His face was covered with a domino mask that was equipped with some standard gadgets like binoculars or enhanced reality. 

(SALEM AUGUST 19TH) 

The Team arrived at the coordinates Red Tornado provided, only to find an empty plot. Wally started to run around trying to find anything. To Percy's disappointment they were all in civilian clothes as not to attract attention.

"Maybe the new guy should help us look." Wally turned to Percy.

"I don't need to. I am looking right at it. Hand me the key Kaldur." Percy said.

Curious to see what Percy had in mind, Aqualad handed the requested object to him. Percy simply took few steps forward and inserted the key into an invisible keyhole and twisted it.

A Large, four-sided tower appeared in front of the Team. "I have experience with camouflage magic. This spell was really strong, but I think it didn't work on me for some reason." Percy pushed the door and the whole team entered into the darkness of the tower. Once everyone was inside, the doors disappeared.

"eh... where did the doors go?" Suberboy looked around. The whole interior was kept in a rather medieval style, with torches being the only source of light.

An image of Kent Nelson formed in front of Percy. "Welcome Demigod. You've entered the tower using the key, but the tower does not recognize your companions. State your purpose and intent." Kent Said.

Wally wanted to jump in and impress Megan, but Percy stopped him. "We are here to see Kent Nelson. His friend Red Tornado is worried about him and asked us to come." The image smiled, before fading.

The wall in front of them opened to reveal a labyrinth of staircases. "Let me do the talking here. I have experience with magic." Percy stated.

"yeah? Where from? Oh! Let me guess... Another god blessed you?" Wally snapped at him. This boy kept getting on his nerves and taking away his chances to impress Megan. "Nope." Percy answered Popping the 'p'. "I learned some basics from my friend. I also encountered my fair share of sorceresses in my life, so stay put. I feel we might encounter some traps."

"Yeah right... I could have guessed that too. Any magical treasure is guarded. Just like your beautiful eyes Meg." Wally spoke turning to Miss M standing next to him.

That did it for Artemis. She pushed wally all the way to the wall. "Enough! Your little impress Megan at all cost is potentially endangering the whole team. What would have happened if Percy wasn't there huh? If you triggered some trap while showing off. You don't even believe in magic so stop. this. charade!" She was honestly tired. This guy needed to learn that M wasn't interested in him in that way and stop embarrassing himself and the martian in the process. 

Megan looked confused. "Wally? You don't believe?" She asked.

Wally looked first at Artemis, then at miss M. Finally, he broke "Fine! Fine. I admit. I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie. A major low."

"Wally. I studied for a year at the conservatory of sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin icons that power my water bearers." Aqualad said.

"Dude. Have you ever heard of bio-electricity? Hey in primitive cultures FIRE was once considered magical too. They are all just a bunch of tricks." Wall ranted.

"You are pretty close-minded for a guy breaking the sound barrier in his sneakers." Artemis countered.

"That's science. I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment and here I am." Wally raised his head high. "Everything can be explained by science."

"Enough people. We must move. You can sort your problems back in the cave. " Percy silenced everyone just as Artemis opened her mouth to argue with Wally.

They were walking up the staircase when a cane floated toward them. "what is this?" Artemis extended her hand to grab it, but then wally run toward it and also wanted to grab it.

"Probably his magic wand. " He said while placing his hand on the cane the same moment Artemis did. When their hands touched the floating item, a golden light enveloped them and they rose in the air. "I can't let go!" Wally panicked.

"Me neither!" Artemis wanted to add something else but they disappeared in flash of light.

Percy just shook his head. "Am I the only one thinking they will end up together?" He joked before carrying on.

"Aren't you worried about them?" Kaldur caught up with Percy.

"Nah. There is no point. It looked like the cane Kent Nelson used on the picture Tornado showed us. it was supposed to guide us to him I think, Best thing now is to try find him the other way." Just then they walked onto a platform with one of the doors open on it. "Told you." 

Percy walked through, followed by the rest of the team. They walked out onto another platform, greeted by Kent Nelson now holding his cane, Artemis and Wally.

Percy walked toward kent to greet the magician, but he and everyone else were knocked back by lightning striking between them.

Percy, Wally and Kent were thrown toward the big bell in the middle while the rest were pushed away. Nelson stood up and hit the bell with his cane, making it light up. He then walked inside, followed by Wally and Percy.

Klarion raged and also jumped into it. They all appeared on the top of the tower, with a golden helmet levitating above them. It's design reminded Percy of some gladiator helmets he saw in a museum, this type was worn by captured Greek warriors fighting in the coliseum. He had no idea how this knowledge came to him, but it just did. He suspected Athena's blessing had something to do with it.

Kent tried to grab the helmet, but before Percy or Wally could react, he was blew back by a red light.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the demigod son of Poseidon. My friend has told me about you." Klarion said to Percy, but in doing so he focused all his attention on him and did not realize that Kent summoned a protective spell around him, the helmet and Wally. Percy was standing too far away and did not get covered by the shield. Instead,he quickly equipped his gloves.

"Your... friend?" Percy was surprised. Not many people were supposed to know his true identity. There was something about the way this boy referred to him that made him think he knows him well.

Klarion shot another beam of red energy at Percy, but the demigod swiftly dodged it. "Yes. You made quite a commotion. First mortal to travel through Tartarus and escape alive... and sane." Hearing this Percy froze for a moment and that gave Klarion a chance to fire at him. Percy was sent back flying from the tower.

"NOOO!" Wally shouted. Kent Nelson had just died in front of him and now he saw Percy falling down from the tower.

Klarion started furiously firing flaming projectiles at the shield. Hearing M'ganns plea for help and seeing his shield fall apart Wally grabbed the helmet and put it on, ignoring the warning given to him by the Witch Boy. While Wally was speaking with Kent inside the helmet, himself and Nabu were battling Klarion.

Percy slowly rose back onto the rooftop. He was about to hit ground when in a last desperate attempt he created a hurricane around himself to slow the fall a bit. It stopped him mid-air, but learning how to navigate the hurricane took him a few moments. Finally, after he touched solid ground and pulled the water back into the storage compartments in his gloves he saw Witch Boy battling doctor Fate.

Doc seemed to be winning, but there was no trace of KF. Suddenly, Klarion disappeared into mist and reappeared behind Fate. From then on, the battle seemed to be in favor of the Lord of Chaos. Percy wanted to intervene, but he had no idea how. Finally, Doctor Fate was thrown away and moaned from pain. Just then it hit him. The voice belonged to Wally. The speedster became new vessel.

Percy extended his hand and out the water in the air he formed into his trident and it solidified with a golden glow.

He then jumped between doctor fate and Klarion and plunged the weapon into ground. Immediately, salt water started coming from the hole. Percy used the newfound supply to create a barrier between the fighting sides. Witch Boy started shooting red rays onto the shield, but whenever the shield broke in a place, more water filled the crack and reinforced it. 

Fate managed to stand up. "Attack the cat. It's his anchor allowing him to stay in this world." Fate calmly spoke to Percy before rising above the shield and shooting a beam of golden light in the general direction of Klarion. The Lord of Chaos created a shield in front of him, but the attack was not directed at him, but rather at the animal next to him. Said familiar was not protected and got tossed away.

"Attacking a defenseless animal? it's low even for a lord of Order" Klarion screeched, but Fate only responded with another attack directed at him. Witch Boy jumped into the portal and appeared next to his cat. "Killjoy. Come on Teekl. We are out of here." The Lord of Chaos changed into shadowy tendrils and disappeared.

Wally levitated in the air for a moment, but he finally took of the helmet and landed. Percy decided to stand back and not say anything as the boy walked to Kent's body and put a watch in his hand.

(HAPPY HARBOR AUGUST 20TH)

Diana was dressed in casual clothes and wearing glasses, She sat in a cafe, waiting for Percy. Finally, right when bell on the town hall signaled mid-day a casually dressed teenager, also wearing glasses of similar design joined her.

"So Percy? How was your first mission with the Team?" Diana asked. The Waitress came to take their orders, Percy asked for two frozen coffees and two slices of Apple Pie. Diana did not question his choice.

"Megan told me that the Pie here is apparently to die for. As for the team... i Guess they are okay. Kind of remind me of my friends. Wally is everywhere and flirting with each girl he meets. Megan is shy and still new to the modern world. Kaldur is responsible and devoted. He tries to act as an adult even if he is only sixteen. There is also robin, who... well the boy is a mystery. And artemis reminds me of..." Percy's voice broke for a moment. "Annabeth. It's not just the blonde hair and stormy eyes, but also her attitude, She won't bend or accept shit from anyone. She is proud of her achievements, but there is something more. She is so determined to prove something, but I can't figure out what." Percy finished.

Diana listened intently. "And superboy?"

"He is okay. Slight anger management issues, but we get along pretty well."Percy replied.

"I am happy that you found some friends there. And what with the mission? I heard what happened." She asked

Percy tensed, silently praying that Diana doesn't ask about the Pit. He closed that chapter of his life and locked the memories down deep. Sometimes he still had nightmares, but it wasn't so bad anymore.

"You stood up against Klarion the Witch Boy and saved Doctor Fate. The League is impressed. Good job." Diana said with a bright smile, proud of her cousin.

"yeah... Thanks it was a team effort though" percy said

Just then two plates of pie were placed in front of them. The Young waitress sent Percy a smile, but he was already focused on his food totally oblivious, Diana chuckled internally.

They talked a bit more about various things. Percy told her how stunned the team was when he summoned the trident. Secretly, he had been practicing the whole act at the beach on Themyscira when he had nothing better to do. 

"There is one more thing. Aquaman wanted to invite you to visit Atlantis. He wanted to thank you for revealing his half-brother's schemes. What should I tell him?" Diana asked

Percy pondered the question for a moment. "Tell him that I will be glad to come and properly meet him. We really started on a wrong foot." Percy said with a cheeky smile.

Happy to hear that, Diana finished her coffee and stood up. "See you soon then" She said before walking away. Percy sighed and also left, leaving a large tip, If you have almost infinite money for small expenses, why not act generous?


	4. Chapter 4

(ATLANTIS AUGUST 25TH)

Percy was slowly swimming through the corridors of the Royal Palace in Atlantis, He was being escorted by three guards but he suspected they were more of an honorary guard than to actually keep him in check, if he really wanted to do something, they wouldn't really be able to stop him.

He was now wearing his superhero outfit minus the domino mask, he was doing it out of respect, rather than to hide his identity or be ready for battle, what gave the guards some reassurance was the fact that he wasn't carrying any weapons.

While swimming, they passed near the construction works, the wing that got destroyed by Ocean Master when trying to cover his tracks, but the king's half brother Orm failed in covering his tracks. Over the course of investigation it became clear that Percy was not responsible, the structural damage of the underwater cliff and fall was caused by high-tech sonic charges.

Aquaman was devastated by the betrayal, but he has got over it and now has devoted all free resources as well as time on tracking the traitor. Percy volunteered to help, but Aquaman was still a bit bitter over the boy and his actions. That is exactly why Wonder Woman thought the invitation was important, A chance to finally bury the hatchet and start anew.

Finally, they entered a large throne room, similar to the one Poseidon had back in his palace before it was destroyed by Oceanus' army.

Aquaman was sitting on his throne towering over the whole place, next to him, on a slightly lower chair sat a woman that Percy guessed was Queen Mera, Orins wife.

"Welcome to Atlantis Percy. I hope you like it here." Orin stood up from his throne and swam toward Percy, the queen followed her husband's example.

Once they met face to face, Aquaman extended his hand, offering a greeting which Percy glady accepted and they shook hands, " Its good to be here, the place is beautiful" Percy said. When the guards realised their king was in no danger, they swam away. 

"Swim with me please. I wanted to show you something." Orin asked Percy.

Percy shrugged and followed the king. They swam through the palace, earning various reactions from the people they passed. Some, probably the guards present at the whole 'Percy incident' either gave him a thankful look or swam a little faster than usual, Others, who probably knew him only from tales and gossips gave him curious looks. No one dared to stop them out of respect for their king or fear of Percy, 'Probably a mixture of both in most cases' Percy thought.

"Tell me Percy. Why did you come to the bar were we first met?" Orin asked once they swam out of the Palace curious as to why the young man was there.

"I had just landed in this world, It was after a really tiring day and I was seriously hungry, I had hoped to get something to eat there. Back then I had no idea about this world or who you guys were." Percy answered honestly, There was no point in hiding anything anyway, they were allies and possibly future teammates.

"But why Amnesty Bay? From what you told us Olympus was in new York and you've never been to the town before." Orin asked 

"If I had to guess, the fates decided to play with me one last time, I think gods cheated me again as Zues did not want to let me go, so I guess they sent me to this world to punish me. I had wished for a life without gods, but they got replaced by you guys and a whole lot of evil guys." Percy explained.

Queen Mera tensed at each mention of the Gods, She wasn't overly religious, but hearing someone talk about them so... casually was a new experience. "Why would they want to punish you in such a cruel way. Giving a false promise of peace is... A rather cruel punishment." Mera asked.

"Yeah. I don't know if you heard, but they are really good at that. Tantalus, Lycaon, Sisyphus... They got the short stick. At least I can still do something. Make some real changes. Zeus is a prick. The only thing he cares about is his throne and maybe his children as long as it benefits him." Percy was really bitter at the gods after all that had happened.

Orin had an easier time accepting the way Percy referred to gods like equals rather than well... gods. He had learned from Diana that Percy rejected godhood twice already for the benefit of others as well as wanting a normal peaceful life, diana made him swear never to reveal anything about it to anyone, including his wife. Diana had told him everything she learned from the young Demigod in hopes of making him understand the boy and hopefully give him a second chance. It worked.

"Enough of this subject. I actually hoped to get your input on something while you're here. That is if you're okay with it." Orin asked the young man.

"Yeah that's fine with me as I don't exactly have any plans for the next... four day, so I'll help with whatever it is." Percy answered.

"To the science center then." Orin said with a smile, glad Percy was happy to help.

"Excuse me my king, but I have to go. My students await me at the conservatory." Queen Mera kissed her husband goodbye before swimming in the opposite direction.

When they entered the science center's main hall Percy's attention was immediately drawn toward the giant starfish frozen in the center of the room, It was at least 50ft high and Percy was amazed. Such life forms were an unknown to mortal scientists in his world which meant it was either a newly discovered species, some mythological monster or an alien.

"Amazing, isn't it? I found it while exploring the northern parts of the kingdom, It has spent millennia frozen like this, but it still shows signs of life and even has some trace of brain function." A bald, Caucasian man said as he came to them. His gray hair and beard floated in the water.

"Percy, meet Vulko, our chief scientific advisor and the head of the Atlantean Science Center. He is responsible for this project." Orin introduced him.

"Nice to meet you. May I ask something?" Percy asked while he stared at the life form towering over them. "Are there any atlantean myths regarding creatures similar to this?"

Vulko at first was surprised by the question, but quickly understood where Percy was going. "No. As far as our knowledge goes, there weren't any recorded in the archives, but it is possible the knowledge was lost over time." 

"I was hoping you could help the science division analyze the creature and maybe try establishing a telepathic connection with it." Orin spoke up.

"I can try, but if its of Alien origin it might not respond." Percy focused on the creature, trying to reach through the ice to it. For a brief moment, he thought he managed to establish a connection, but suddenly images started to appear in his mind, whatever this thing was, it probed his mind while at the same time it gave him his own memories.

A fleet of different aliens, each piloting a ship. Everyone had a small version of this star on their face, the armada seemed to be endless. Then, his vision shifted and he saw what could be a bridge of a bigger ship, where a similar star was piloting the whole thing. At the same time, three words kept being repeated in his mind: 'All. Hail. Starro.' The creature kept looking through his memories when suddenly, a loud shriek pierced his head.

Percy finally managed to break the connection. Memories of Tartarus started flooding his head, but he slowly pushed it back to the deep corner of his mind by focusing on the good times. He felt weak, but did not faint. He wasn't Jason after all.

"This thing... I think it's name is Starro. He is definitely an alien. I... I think I saw him on his conquest. An armada of different aliens wore masks resembling him. They... I don't know. Ive never saw anything like it, it tried to read my mind, but apparently encountered something it couldn't handle." Percy told them.

"Incredible. When you made a connection, it's brain waves increased tenfold. But then, after you broke the connection the waves almost disappeared. You... Whatever it saw in your brain put it into catatonic state. A coma if you wish. I shudder at the idea of what could it be to damage his mind so much." Vulko said fascinated

"It's best none of you know." Percy said mysteriously before excusing himself and swimming away, much to their confusion. He wasn't about to explain tarturus to them.

He wandered around Atlantis for about half an hour, admiring the beauty of a lost civilization. No one bothered him, with people either not recognizing him or they feared him too much to approach, He didn't mind. Not attracting attention while under the sea was a new experience to him and it honestly felt great. Water was his element and while swimming in it he could relax, All the negative emotion of the past few weeks cleared from his mind and he was left with happy memories.

After wandering Percy decided to head back to the palace. He went to turn back, but he hit someone. "Sorry. I didn't look where I was going. Forgive me sir." Percy turned and to his surprise the person he crashed with was half-octopus. "I did not mean to bump into you"

Percy gave him a warm smile. "You don't have to apologize. It was my fault. I turned so suddenly you had no chance to stop. I'm Percy by the way. Who are you if I may ask?"

"I am Topo, student at the conservatory of Sorcery." Seeing Percy's puzzled look Topo pointed to large building nearby. "That is the building over there." He explained.

Altough it was built in an overall Greek theme, a mass of neon-like lights and statues of unicorn hipocampi made it look a bit like some casino to the young demigod. "Wait. Isn't that where Queen Mera teaches?" Percy remembered how she said something about it.

"Oh yes! Queen Mera is one of the greatest sorcerers out there. She usually runs the advanced classes, so I never see her really." There was a tint of sadness in Topo's voice.

"Do you want to?" Percy asked. "I think I want to see how her lessons are going." He gave his signature troublemaker's grin.

"I don't know. Usually, we are not supposed to attend higher level lessons." Topo said a little nervous.

"Don't worry. I wanted to talk to her anyway." Percy told him.

They swam together, ignoring other students giving Topo curious looks. The young student wanted to disappear in a deep hole because of how much attention he earned, but Percy placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him reassuring smile, no one bothered them in any way until they got to the training arena.

Before Percy even had time to look around, a large ball of electrified water came tumbling toward him. Acting on instinct, he focused on the water and made it stop, before separating it into several smaller charged balls, ready for another attack.

Then, he looked around and saw two people, a boy and a girl, battle with each other, they both used mostly water based attacks, but the girl incorporated a usage of her surroundings and the terrain, whilst the boy was fighting in a very predictable way. It took Percy ten seconds to figure out his fighting style and he couldn't stop himself from shouting what he was going to do before he even did it.

That got the attention of both of the fighters. They halted and looked at him and Topo surprised. Queen Mera swam toward them and both students followed her. "Percy? I thought you are helping my husband with something." Mera asked curious as to why the young man was here.

"I did. After that, I was wandering through the city and I met this young student, he reminded me that I had something I wanted to ask you about." Saying that, Percy presented Topo who before tried to hide behind Percy.

"G-Good af-afternoon m-my Queen." Young student shyly greeted the queen.

"Welcome. Topo, right? Kaldur told me about you. He said you have some real potential, Maybe I will come see you later, for now, forgive me but I am curious as to what matter is troubling you Percy." She turned toward the Demigod. 

"Well, this is rather private and I would prefer to discuss it without..." He nodded toward two students. "Witnesses."

"Garth and Tula can stay and listen. I trust them completely and so can you." Queen defended her pupils.

"And I am not leaving you alone with her Majesty for one moment." Garth was a bit angry with the guy for mocking him during the battle.

Percy smiled genuinely "Don't worry. I have no bad intentions toward her. And even if I did, you wouldn't stand a chance. I've seen how you fight." Percy said cheekily.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Garth was getting more and more irritated with each word coming from the demigod.

"What you heard. I'm not saying it to mock you or belittle you, just wanted to give you some advice, it took me ten seconds to learn your abilities, your tactics and fighting style, You go by the book, no improvisation and no initiative. Your techniques might be advanced, but you are repeating them like beginner." Percy explained patiently.

"Oh! And you are an expert?" Truth be told Garth was actually aware of his mistakes, but he was not going to admit to it just yet.

"Yes." Was all Percy replied. Garth wanted to continue, but Tula grabbed his hand and sent him a smile. He immediately calmed down.

Queen mera watched this exchange with curiosity. "Maybe you would want to prove it? It's been long time since I had a chance to spar with someone. Would you be so kind as to help me show them how a real fight looks like?" Mera asked hoping to show her students what Percy meant as she has told Garth the same before.

"With pleasure Queen Mera " Percy half-bowed.

They both got into position on opposite sides of the arena with Garth, Tula and Topo observing them from the Sidelines, Percy summoned his trident, earning a surprised glance from the rest. He just shrugged and got into his battle stance.

Once the combat began, Mera quickly threw multiple balls of energized water at him, but he swiftly dodged and responded by creating an icy stream directed at her. She made a shield around her, but Percy's water froze it, Taking advantage of her limited vision, Percy dashed toward Mera. He plunged his trident into the barrier and shattered it, at the same time forcing the shards to fly at her.

At the last moment, Mera dodged and retaliated with more energy balls, but this time Percys trident absorbed the energy. The head of his weapon shined and he created several beams of light and directed them at her. Mera dodged again and summoned several semi-transparent sharks that attacked Percy, but to her surprise before they touched him they dispersed before any managed to touch him, Percy then created a tornado of water around himself obscuring his opponents vision.

When the tornado died out, he was nowhere to be seen. Mera looked around confused until A feeling of something cold pressing to her back right between her shoulder blades made her realize he was behind her. 

"Yield?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Good battle Percy. I must admit your tactics were unorthodox, but effective." Mera said with a smile, having enjoyed herself.

"Yours were also quite creative, but I did have the advantage of being a son of Poseidon..." Seeing others glare at him he quickly added "your majesty."

Garth, Tula and Topo swam to where they stood. "That. Was. Amazing!" Tula was overjoyed. "First you just... and then... and the queen then... and you... Argh! That was so awesome." Tula could barely string her words together.

Garth was also smiling. "Forgive my previous attitude. Now I see that what I took for impudence were really words of an experienced warrior. You have my humble apologies." He tried to bow, but Percy signed him to stop.

"Please don't bow. It makes me uncomfortable. As for experience, that is exactly what it is. Training can only get you so far. Improvisation and adaptability are hard to learn in a safe environment. Your friend here shows a natural talent, but she also lacks the experience I earned on the battlefield." Percy then turned to the queen. "Now about this private matter?"

"yes. Follow me to my office. We can discuss it there." She motioned in the direction of her office and the two of them swam away.

Garth and Tula were still standing there. "He is right, you know?" Garth started. "Training is not real battle"

"What do you mean?" Tula asked curios to were Garth was going with this line of thought.

"Training here will not teach us the skills he mentioned. We can learn theory, but practice is out there, where the action is really happening. Where the king and Kaldur are. Maybe... Maybe we should... I must discuss something with the king." With that Garth swam away.

(LINE BREAK)

"So? What did you want to talk about Percy?" Mera asked once they were alone.

"Is there a spell that can lock some memories away?" Percy answered seriously.

"Well, I can think of a few, but what exactly do you have in mind." She asked.

"I was helping Aquaman with the giant starfish that the science team discovered, after establishing a connection it fed me images, but there was more. It probed my mind. At one point it screamed in pain and went into a catatonic state." Percy shuddered at the memory of the scream this creature gave. He saw tartarus through a thick veil of mist, but if in this world there was no mist it's hard to imagine what atrocities people would see if they probed his mind.

"Do you know which of your memories caused it?" Queen Mera was curious as to what could be so terrifying to cause such a reaction and how is that Percy is still sane.

"In my world there is something called the Mist. It creates a veil that shields the eyes of mortal and to some extent demigods from everything mythological. This world doesn't seem to have any whatsoever. I am unsure if the Mist even works on aliens or if someone is reading my memories. Also... I was in places that weren't exactly pleasant." Percy told her honestly.

"What places?" Queen Mera was getting more and more curious.

" Tartarus" The feeling of dread filled the room as Percy spoke the words.

"You've... been to Tartarus? Myths says that no mortal ever returned." Mera couldn't shake the shock that overtook her.

"I've traveled it. My girlfriend... ex-girlfriend and I fell into the Pit during one of our quests, after two painful weeks we managed to escape, but it wasn't without a cost." Percy was trying his best not to show weakness in front of the Queen of Atlantis.

"That's horrible." Mera was horrified.

"I won't try to act brave and shrug it off. It was horrifying. And we had the mist, I can't even start to imagine what this creature saw when it looked at my memory's. I want to make sure this never happens. I don't want to put others through this." Percy said.

Queen Mera was surprised by this. Myths were never clear on how Tartarus really looks like except it was a pit of eternal torture. Sending anyone there, much less a teenagers is... unimaginable. "With this, I cannot help. All spells known to me or the Atlanteans makes the person forget, but others can still access the memory." Seeing Percy saddened face she added "But there is another way, maybe you should practice with Martian Manhunter he should have some techniques to protect your mind."

"Will do. There is one more thing... Since arriving here, my powers, strength, durability, endurance, dexterity, healing and even my mind process are all increased And the air here is full of energy, With each breath, I feel like I'm drinking some nectar and eating ambrosia. Even the gifts the gods gave me seem empowered. Do you have any theories?" Percy asked.

Mera was not really surprised, From seeing what Percy could do she figured there was more than just being born with it. Not even Wonder Woman could match him in terms of raw power. There was also the fact he didn't just use Poseidon's trident, his bound to it and it to him, In the past anyone could take it, but now... she remembered when they tried to take the trident when he was unconscious, it shocked whoever grabbed it. She had to manipulate the water around it to finally safely transfer it to the League's vault.

"Well... where exactly does your power come from?" She asked him.

"I inherited them from my father. I am half-god, so some of his control over different domains is also in me. That's why I can control water so easily or cause earthquakes or talk with horses and marine life." Percy explained.

"Hm... I think that's the reason why your powers are so great You say at each moment you are infused with divine energy..." she asked.

"It used to be much more intense when I first came here, now I think I adapted." Percy said, though he thinks that control came after getting his father's trident, as if it was a conduit.

"You asked for my theory so here it is. Back in your world your powers came from your father, but here he is absent. Instead, you started drawing directly from the source, that is his domains. The power was raw, pure, untouched by any other influence. The power was slowly pushing your body to it's limits, until at some point you would probably incinerate, much like after consuming godly food. I think the 'call' you heard from the trident came from the fact it recognized you as an heir of Poseidon, once you grabbed it, the weapon finished the process. You did not become a god, but still you channel the strength of the oceans." Mera explained, truth be told it fascinated her.

"But what of Diana? She is a Daughter of Zeus, so in theory she should channel his domains." Percy was confused.

"With her it is a bit different. She was born in this world, so her body was adjusted to... the unique climate if you can call it that, She was never really anchored to any source of power as opposed to you." Mera paused to let it sink. "That's all just a bunch of speculation based on my knowledge of sorcery. It can all be false, but it seems like best possible explanation based on what you told me." Mera said.

Percy analyzed her words in silence, trying to comprehend what she told him. Basically, his human half got changed into godly. He was more god than human, except without the ancient laws limiting him, he still bled so he could be killed. Maybe it wasn't that bad, but with that much power came great... need to take a nap. He thanked the queen for everything and left back to the palace. She asked him to come by tomorrow and give her students some pointers on combat sorcery, to which he agreed.

(LINE BREAK)

(ATLANTIS AUGUST 27TH) 

Percy and Aquaman awaited kaldur at the Zeta Gate. The Previous day was mostly uneventful for the demigod. He spent most of it giving pointers to Queen Mera's students, she kept her promise and met with Topo. Once the young boy managed to overcome his initial shyness, he actually impressed her, she agreed to take him under her wing, much to Percy's satisfaction.

In the afternoon Percy helped a bit more with 'Starro'. Part of Athena's blessing gave him a P.H.D. in marine biology and he was able to help with some research and he started to get along with Aquaman. 

RECOGNIZED: AQUALAD B0-2 

Kaldur was happy to be back home, as much as he liked being a superhero and learning from his king, he missed Atlantis. And there was Tula, he hoped to reveal his feelings to her during this stay.

Lately, since Percy arrived he felt no longer needed at the Team. As a leader he failed miserably. He couldn't control his own teammates or keep any level of discipline, which came to Percy naturally. He couldn't even lead by example, getting defeated by Clay-face, honestly, Percy would be a great leader, all It took from him was one sentence to stop the conflict between Wally and Artemis and get their head in a game, which did not last after he left for Atlantis a day before mission.

"Kaldur. Nice to see you." Orin and Percy came toward him. He saluted to the King and shook the demigods hand.

"Nice too see you both as well. I have missed this place so much." Kaldur said wistfully.

"I don't blame you. I've only been here for two days and already I love it here." Percy smiled genuinely.

"You are always welcome here Kaldur. Walk with me please. See you at the dinner Percy." With that Orin and Kaldur swam away, leaving Percy to do what he wanted. 

There was still few hours till dinner so he decided to visit the Atlantean library, Whilst Athena's blessing finished his education and removed his dyslexia, he still had much to learn, especially in this new world full of aliens and magic.

Dinner time came so fast that Percy didn't realize he was already late. He made his way to the palace and barged into dining hall almost breaking the doors from its hinges. "Sorry I am late." He paused to look at the other guests. There was king, his queen, Aqualad and to his surprise Tula. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"No worries Percy" Orin reassured him. "We only just began. Come join us."

Percy sat at the place prepared for him and listened to the conversation, Mera and Tula told him about life at the Conservatory and Aquaman gave some stories about his recent adventures, Percy noticed that Kaldur wasn't really focused on the conversation and instead kept looking at the young sorceress.

When it came to Percy, he decided to narrate about his discoveries in the Science Center, revealing the alien origin of the giant starfish and what he and Vulko figured out from analyzing the creature without breaking the ice yet.

The king and queen revealed the most important news yet, they were expecting a child their heir. Percy only smiled, Technically speaking, he had a right to contend for the throne being the demigod son of the sea god, from whom all kings of Atlantis apparently descended, Atlan the first king was supposedly Percy's half brother, he did not want the throne though, All the paperwork would kill him before his enemies could get a chance.

After dinner ended Kaldur asked Tula to for a walk and Percy only sighed, Aqualad would soon end up with a broken heart, as much as it pained him, he decided it was best not to interfere. Sometimes it's best to hear it from the source.

He stayed with King and Queen until Orin was called back to the surface world, not having much to do, he just talked with Mera a bit about magic, comparing notes regarding the history of Atlantis and telling her some about some of his quests. She was really quite nice and would be a great mother. She made him miss his mother a bit, but he reminded himself that this was for the best. He would only endanger her every time they met.

Suddenly, a series of explosions sounded throughout the city. Percy immediately summoned his trident and rushed to see what was happening, Mera followed him Outside.

The soldiers came to the queen and gave her a damage report. He was cut off mid-sentence by a shot to his back. Percy created a shield around himself and Mera, stopping any further attacks, the rest of the soldiers weren't that lucky, most were taken by surprise and they were overwhelmed by the superior number of enemy forces.

The Queen created another shield and nodded to Percy to attack, Percy willed the currents to launch him forward, moving at incredible speed with his trident. He knocked out five manta soldiers before landing in the enemy lines. He then pointed his trident at the rest and channeled his power through the weapon. All their weapons were blocked with ice and one by one all exploded when they fired either at him or other soldiers. When they were disarmed, the guards took care of them and bound them.

Aqualad, Tula and Garth came into the yard. "What's going on? These are Black Manta's soldiers." Kaldur spoke. 

"They are attacking all over the city. We've spotted explosions in sectors 1,2,3 and 5." Garth summarized. 

"But none in sector 4. The Science Center! They want to get Starro!" Tula figured out. Suddenly, she fell back, shot by incoming reinforcements.

Angry the queen summoned a giant spiritual octopus to protect them and fight the attackers.

"Garth, stay with Tula. Kaldur, you protect the queen and the heir. I will deal with this Black Manta." Percy gave his orders.

"Let me go with you. I've got a score to settle with them" Garth was burning with rage while still gently holding the unconscious Tula.

"No. You two must stay here. If something happens to Queen Mera I wouldn't forgive myself and Orin wouldn't forgive any of us. I can manage by myself. They won't know what hit them." Percy Instructed.

"Stay safe Percy." Aqualad gave him an Atlantean salute.

(LINE BREAK)

Percy quickly shot off toward the Science Center at top speed, knocking as many Manta soldiers unconscious as possible.

When he finally got there, he didn't bother with stealth, Sure he hasn't known Tula that long, but she was still one of the few people he actually knew. No one messes with his friends.

One strong punch made the doors fly open and off their hinges, he then moved in taking out every soldier that was stupid enough to try and stop him.

He barged into the main hall where Starro was kept, he did not slow down, Using his speed as an additional advantage he punched each soldier unconscious before they could even react. Once he got behind their lines, he blocked up their weapons with ice and watched them explode, knocking out most of the soldiers.

Percy was in battle mode, everything seemed to slow down, but it was in fact just his mind working on an increased speed. Three soldiers that didn't get knocked out drew combat knifes and charged at him, With one swipe of his trident the first one was down, Second man received a powerful uppercut and hit the ceiling and the third one got a hard kick that sent him flying into wall, leaving nice new hole.

Out of no where twin red beams hit Percy in the back and pain surged throughout his body. The water immediately healed the wound, but another set of laser beams were already on their way toward him, Percy created a water shield that he then changed into ice shards that he sent toward the source.

Black Manta dodged the ice shards but he did not prepare for them to be followed by an angry Demigod.

Percy smashed into the villain using his whole body weight and then smacked him in the face, he was about to knock him unconscious, but got distracted when the glass dome broke and support soldiers came in, Some of them attached lines to Starro and started carrying him up, but Percy cut the line.

Black Manta, already retreating turned around and screamed some cliche vengeance line before firing a rocket at Starro, Percy did not react fast enough and the whole thing blew up. Taking advantage of the chaos created by the explosion, both Manta and his troopers disappeared into their sub and shot away.

Percy wanted to chase them, but he remembered about Tula and Mera. He swam back to the palace to find them both safe, Kaldur and Garth were exhausted, but they managed to defeat most of the attackers. Few did escape, but they were in the minority of the forces that arrived.

(LINE BREAK)

Percy and Kaldur were preparing to leave, the King came to bid them farewell. The portal was already charging when Tula and Garth came forward.

"Wait! One more thing!" Tula swam towards them almost crashing into the two, before Percy manipulated the water to slow her down.

"What's the matter Tula" Kaldur was curious as to what his friends wanted with him.

"We discussed things with Queen Mera and the King. This year of study will be our last in the Conservatory. We will be joining you on the surface world." Garth explained.

"But... Why?" Aqualad was confused. When the King offered him a chance to become his protege, Garth refused.

"Percy." Tula simply said. "He made us realize that some skills can't be learned in the academy, we need to practice, Queen mera promised to prepare a special training regimen for us to keep up, but... the way you two fight and use your gifts, its something I've never seen. I..." she grabbed Garth's hand "We want to learn. Percy was right, Studying in a safe environment limits us. The world is not the academy."

Kaldur was about to say something, but Percy was faster "That's a great idea, The team would be happy to have you, I'm sure you'll make great additions "

Seeing Aqualad's face percy opened the mental link to talk in complete privacy. This time he remembered to lower the volume. " What's troubling you?"

"It's just... I don't know if I really want them to join the team. Tula... They would constantly be there as a reminder of what I don't have, I don't think Im ready to move on just like that. I am happy for them, but it's just that..." Kaldur tried his best to explain.

"Don't worry, i get it. Luckily for you they are not coming immediately. You will move on with time, appentaly time is an effective healer. Just follow the current and everything will somehow turn out okay one way or another." Percy told him.

Kaldur gave him a nod of approval hearing the wisdom in those words, and with that they traveled back.

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION AUGUST 27TH) 

Black manta awaited the six screens to activate and show him the members of The light, Soon enough, the familiar silhouettes appeared and meeting began. 

"The attack was a failure. I did not obtain the target and was forced to initiate plan B." Black Manta paused before pulling a small flash drive from his pocket. "I copied everything they had on 'project Starro'. Apparently this new... superhero is much stronger than we initially anticipated." Manta plugged in the disk and holographic images containing notes and research results appeared.

"Bah! The boy is not a threat. This puny demigod is just an irritation, a minor setback." One of the members spoke dismissively.

"If I remember correctly, this boy has a record of surprising us, We should keep a close eye on him." Another voice joined the discussion. "And acquire him for the light. If we get a large enough sample, Cadmus might be able to..."

"NO!" The first member screamed. "Don't you dare mess with him, he is mine! You heard that? Mine! mine! mine! I want to have revenge on the three hags and what better way to do it than destroying their favorite toy?"

"Your personal vendetta will have to wait, right now this teenage 'hero' is giving us more and more trouble." Another said. "It would be easier if we had some more knowledge about him."

Black Manta silently listened to them, He was unsure what to think of it, On one hand he didn't like being ignored, but at the same time he was glad that they did not punish him for his failure. After the disgrace of Ocean-Master, The light had been looking to replace Orm. This mission was supposed to be his chance to prove his value and earn him a 'seat at the table'.

"Ekhm! Excuse my boldness, but I might have something, if the gossip I heard about him is true and he truly is a son of Poseidon, there might be something." If this gambit worked, Manta would definitely earn a place in the Light "Once, while exploring an underwater cave I stumbled upon a drowned temple dedicated to Neptune, There, I found a certain vial. It was made of crystal and emblazoned with small diamonds forming the constellation of Orion, there was this deep green liquid inside. Analysis revealed it to be scorpion's venom. I believe it to be what was left from the very scorpion that killed thw famed hunter, legend said that it was specifically created to hunt the children of Poseidon, so maybe it will be enough to deal with them or at least weaken him enough for us to capture him." Seeing their puzzled look he wanted to add something, but one of the members was faster and clarified it.

"Conventional poisons, no matter how strong will not work on him, the Ichor in his veins will neutralize them before they manage to deal any damage, Mythical poison created specifically to hurt Orion though..." There was a creepy laughter "Might actually work."

"Thank you for your input Black Manta and I say welcome to The Light." Yet another voice sounded. 

All screens cleared of statics and silhouettes were replaced by images of the members. "Now... Let's discuss our latest discovery in Bialya. It might actually shift the balance in out favor."

(LINE BREAK)

(MOUNT JUSTICE SEPTEMBER 3RD)

The team gathered in the mission room, already in their gear. Aqualad and Percy joined them last, the former still sweating from the training.

"You sure know your way with a blade. It's an honor to practice with you." Aqualad praised Percy, he was defeated several times in a row.

Percy wanted to answer humbly, but Batman interrupted him

"Focus. Both of you. Two days ago we detected an energy surge on the Bialyan desert. We are not sure what caused it, but it triggered all the alarms on our satellites. We want you to investigate what exactly caused it and report back, Bialya is run by queen Bee, a dangerous dictator who refused to sign the Justice League Charter. This mission is also unsanctioned, so no radio contact, if you are captured, it could lead to an international diplomatic incident." Batman explained the mission.

Megan smiled and said to Batman "Don't worry. We can use mind-link to communicate without threat of being seen."

Hearing it, Percy took a step back. "You are not touching my brain. It's too dangerous."

"Don't worry. I won't probe deep. It will only transfer surface thoughts." Miss M. tried to reassure him, but he only shook his head.

"And what if it fails. Or overloads. Or reacts differently with me? I am not willing to risk exposing you to my memories. For your own good." Percy told them.

Batman squinted his eyes. "Explain. Now."

"Eh... i guess it's only fair. While I was in Atlantis I established a mental link with an Alien. I only wanted to talk, but he wrestled for control and started looking through my memories, he stumbled upon my time in... the Pit and went into a deep coma. His brain practically died." Percy explained.

"What is 'the Pit' and why would it damage him so much if you are still standing?" Artemis asked. 

" Tartarus" Percy answered in a dread filled voice. "Basically, it's the deepest, darkest hell, existing as a place where monsters regenerate after being killed." Percy gulped before continuing. "Thw Air there is poisonous, the ground feels like walking on shattered glass, you are constantly surrounded by an aura of misery and death. The only thing to sate your hunger is the river of flames that burns your insides only to regenerate them." He closed his eyes remembering some of his time there. "And that is not the scariest part. It is all but an illusion created by the Mist, the real Tartarus is the body of an ancient Primordial, Monsters are his blood cells, the air is his breath and the ground is his deformed skin, for just a moment I saw his real form. I was lucky to be pulled back, but I pushed the memory into deepest darkest part of my subconsciousness, this... is probably what he saw. I spent two weeks there with my ex-girlfriend." 

The team looked at percy with large eyes and open mouths, he had never really told them about his Demigod quests, now they finally understood why. This was not like anything they've seen.

Even Wally, although he wanted to argue that it was just a different dimension to which they traveled at some point, was too stunned to actually answer.

Batman, although he kept his cold facade, was mentally cursing himself for his initial approach to the boy, this was a survivor who went through literal hell and he hunted him because of his paranoia.

Megan flew to Percy and hugged him tightly. At first, he stiffened, but soon he embraced the hug. Whilst the rest patted him on the back, it was comforting to know they were here for him and he was determined to be there for them aswell.

"Thanks guys. This really means a lot to me. Now you understand why I don't want anyone to look into my mind? An accidental slip and you might fall into a coma. I... I wouldn't be able to live with myself if this happened." Percy said.

Aqualad silently pondered the problem, he remembered their first meeting and an idea came to his mind. "What if you initiated the mind link? Like you did when we first met. It felt different than what Miss M. does." 

"no i can't It doesn't work that way. I can only do it with creatures of the sea." Percy explained.

"But maybe if you connect to Kaldur, I can use him as a safety net to talk. A transfer station. You would hear whatever he heard through mind-link, without actually exposing your mind. He can't explore your mind, so there won't be any danger!" Miss M was happy that they found the solution.

Percy analyzed the idea, trying to find any rational flaw. Unable to do so, he finally agreed to try.

Batman nodded. "There is one more thing, the energy signature. Percy. It was similar to the one we recorded at the point of your arrival, we have reason to believe that this might be something from your world. Be careful."

When bat walked away the team started to discuss the strategy. Robin was pointing out things on the topographic map of the area surrounding the anomaly when Wally suddenly interrupted him.

"Percy. There is one more problem. You still don't have a superhero name. You can't expect us to call you Percy during the mission." Wally said.

"And what would be wrong with that?" Percy got confused.

"Dude. Secret identity? Ring a bell? There is a reason why I don't parade as Wally West among my enemies." KF explained like it was simplest thing ever.

"Huh? I thought it was just a choice use made Also, I don't see Artemis having a 'superhero' name whatsoever." Percy defended.

"She is an archer. Like Artemis, the roman goddess of the hunt." Wally explained.

"Greek." Earning an confused look from Wally and Megan so Percy elaborated. "Artemis is a Greek goddess, her roman counterpart is named Diana." 

"Doesn't matter." Wally said.

"It does when one tolerates you and the other wants you castrated or changed into jackalope." This earned Percy yet another set of confused stares. "Nevermind. Point is I don't see a need for changing my name for missions, I managed just fine like it is since I was twelve."

"Dude. Superhero names rock. What about Tide? Riptide? Hurricane? Typhon? Triton?" Wally listed names at random. The last two suggestions earned a dangerous glare from Percy.

"No, no and no. And I won't take the name of my brother, he sees me as competition as it is." Wally wanted to say something, but Percy sensed his intention and stopped him. "Don't even try mentioning Ariel. She is more spoiled than girls at Clarion Ladies Academy" This earned a curious look from KF.

"One day you must tell me more about your world." Wally said.

Superboy stepped foward. "What about simply Perseus? It was a name of a hero in mythology."

"Firstly, he was a son of Zeus not Poseidon. Secondly, I hate this name. Whenever I hear someone call me that they usually want to kill me in one way or another." Percy deadpanned.

Auqalad thought for a moment. "What about... Neptune. Or Poseidon if you prefer." Percy was about to protest, but Kaldur continued. "Before you say no, consider it. You already carry the trident your father gave you, It wouldn't be a sign of disrespect toward him, but rather the opposite. You would bring glory to his name."

Percy analyzed his logic and decided that it wasn't actually that bad. "Well... Poseidon is too much, but Neptune I can live with." He summoned his trident and rose it high above his head. "Behold the mighty power of Neptune!" With that he made the blade crackle with electricity. Percy joked.

"Too much theatrics, but the name suits you. Welcome abroad Neptune." Kaldur said with a grin.


	5. Chapter 5

(BIALYA SPTEMBER 4TH)

The team successfully landed the Bioship just behind the border and infiltrated enemy territory.

Everyone was in stealth-mode to avoid detection, Kaldur's plan worked perfectly, Percy could hear and speak with the team with no danger of accidentally causing them all to fall into coma. They silently moved toward the coordinates to find a military encampment, Miss M wanted to fly in invisible and assess the situation, but Percy stopped her.

"Not so fast. We have no idea what is in there." She stopped, but still levitated ready to leave. Percy sighed and continued his explanation. "If Batman is right and whatever came through this anomaly is there, you might be in danger, all of you are, None of the weapons you possess will work on monsters but their sure as Hades be able to hurt you. I will go." He summoned his trident and to his surprise it came to him in a darker colour, it was still gold, but the shaft was concealed by shadows. Cool. " I can deal with the threat."

"Yeah right." Wally was skeptic. Percy was strong, but he often moved like an elephant. "Superboy is more stealthy than you."

Neptune smiled and focused on the trick he had been practicing. He took a step back and shadows embraced him and he partially disappeared. Apparently Hades blessing was more potent than he was initially led to believe. He still couldn't rise the dead or shadow travel, but he learned how to merge with the darkness and hide. While moving through shades, he made no sound and was hard to spot for the untrained eye, his dark-colored armor and black hair perfectly blended with the darkness. His face was also covered by shadows, but his sea-green eyes were standing out a bit. He stepped out of the shadows and smiled even wider. "I will manage."

Kaldur stayed silent for a moment and analyzed the pros and cons, Percy made a good point, he was the most qualified of them all. "Fine, You will go. Miss M. Will Keep an eye from the air and be ready to help. Remember. Recon only."  
Neptune nodded and stepped back into the shadows, without making any sound whatsoever he sneaked toward the camp.

When he got to the material serving as a wall, he stopped for a moment, wondering how to get in without rising suspicion, he tried sensing life behind this wall, but luckily there was no one close. He cut one of the straps holding it to the pole and sneaked inside.

He was now standing behind a line of tanks, he counted at least ten, there was also a few trucks to carry soldiers and six jeeps armed with mini-guns on top.  
A thought crossed his mind to try and sabotage it all, but he dismissed it, this wasn't why he came there.

Percy progressed toward the tents. He was about to enter one of them, but suddenly a powerful impulse passed through mind-link. The connection with Kaldur was terminated without any warning, He looked around and noticed all soldiers mobilizing and preparing to move out, No one came toward him, so he figured they did not spot him. A realization came to him. They did not find him, but M'gann.

He sped up to get a better look at the situation, first the tanks already moved out, but a group of soldiers formed a tight circle around someone, some hooded man stepped out of a tent and looked around. Once he noticed the crowd of soldiers he walked there. They separated to let him pass and Percy had a chance to confirm his suspicions. Inside laid an unconscious Miss M with the Soldiers aiming their guns at her. Thats when Percy jumped from one shade to another and closed the distanc so to hear what was going on.

"So what are we supposed to do with her?" A soldier wearing a sergeant's uniform asked.

The hooded man pondered the question before finally answering. "Hm... Kill her. We won't be able to contain her and she  
might compromise the whole operation." The voice sounded strange, not entirely human.

Before the soldiers could fully comprehended the order, Neptune launched himself from the shadows and punched the nearest one, He flew away, into at least a dozen others. Without giving them time to react to the new threat, Percy then stomped on the ground and released an earthquake that knocked all the remaining enemies in range to the ground. He was about to pick up Megan up, when a paralyzing pain went through his head, Someone was trying to break into his mind, Percy tried pushing whoever it was away, He managed to turn around to see the hooded man, now with his hood down.

He was right. This wasn't a normal human, in front of Neptune stood a pale bald man, his brain visible through a clear dome that seemed to protect it, with some strips of skin over the dome, Three red lines decorated each cheek. 

"Sneaky little bastard. Somehow you avoided detection and feedback from my mental attack on your martian. Very well. Let's see what you have inside this mind of yours." The pain in the head increased. "Psimon says submit!" Percy was immediately stripped of all strength to resist the intrusion, he was mildly aware of the soldiers slowly standing up and reorganizing. This bald man was now scouring his memories until the connection was broken.

"You! You... How are you not insane?" Psimon was trying to step back, but he tripped over one of the guns and fell, he was now crawling back. "You... what was that place?"

Percy slowly became aware of the situation, the sound of the safety being unlocked on a machine gun snapped him back to reality. 

His mind went into battle mode, time seemed to slow down as he looked around, Before they could even opened fire, Neptune fired water from his gauntlets, freezing it in the muzzles and causing most of the guns to explode and knocking some soldiers back. Those, who only now came into action started firing, but Percy dodged all the incoming bullets, he then created a small earth-quake to launch himself high into the air.

They tried shooting at him, but he deflected the bullets with his trident, Still in the air, he gathered the water from the now melted icicles and used it to distract the soldiers. He then landed on one, immediately knocking him out with the impact and proceeded punching and hitting his way through their ranks, he was careful not to kill any one though.

They might serve the evil queen, but it doesn't mean they should die because of carrying out her orders, the soldiers, seeing that firing at him was completely ineffective decided to try to run away instead. Or how their commander called it: " tactical retreat!" Initially, his instincts told Neptune to chase them, but he then remembered Miss M. Percy ran to her as she was slowly starting to wake, but Percy still splashed some water on her, just to be sure.

"Katchhhhaa, s'nomoth… K'azzar M'gann? N'da M'arzz... Ah'lunzz… s'sess b'rakahzz…Hw'asheta!" Miss M finally sat up and spoke in unknown language.

"Um... English please?" Percy was very dumbfounded. Athenas blessing really did a number on him when he learned that he knew almost all languages.

"Oh! Sorry. I did not realize that I was on earth. How did I get here though..." She started speaking English which Percy was grateful for. 

"Just sit here and try to rest. I will be right back." Neptune's eyes behind his mask darkened. He started walking toward Psimon, who was now cowering in the corner. "You! What have you done to her?!" Seeing that Psimon only cowered more, Percy hit the ground with the blunt end of his trident. "Speak! NOW!"

"I... I ordered her to forget, But... Something went wrong, She was connected to others. It created a feedback loop..." He stuttered his words. "Her memory is shattered to pieces." Percy was about to knock him unconscious, but Psimon spoke again. "Who are you? What was that place? How... How are you still sane?" 

"Maybe I'm not." Was Neptune's only response before he knocked him out with the blunt end of the trident. He then walked back to Megan and helped her to her feet. "Sorry. I had to take out some trash." He gave her a smile. "I learned whats wrong with you though."

"Wrong? What would be wrong with me? Why would something be wrong at all?" She went into a defensive stance.

At first it surprised Percy, but then he just shrugged. After all she just woke up on an alien planet that she never visited before. "Your memory has been shattered to pieces by an enemy telepath. You forgot... I don't know how much of your life." He explained.

"Hello Megan. Of course." She started levitating and her eyes glowed green.

As she done this Percy took the time to look around and analyze the situation. The camp was half-ruined, with most of the tents devastated after the earth quake, the screen surrounding the camp was either torn by the earthquake or soldiers he threw and punched into it.  
Most of the vehicles left or if they didn't the earthquake and icicles took care of them, some had torn wheels while others had pierced engines or gas tanks. The place was a huge mess. 

Miss M.'s eyes stopped glowing and she landed. "Ok. I repaired the damage to my memory, but I still can't figure out what exactly happened..."

"This guy happened." Percy pointed to the knocked out Psimon in the corner. "He used some psychic powers to make you forget, but the mind-link between you and the team created some... feedback loop or whatever he called it. I'm no specialist in this thing."

"But how is that you were unaffected?" M'gann started to wonder. "Hello Megan! You weren't attached to the mind-link directly, but rather through Kaldur. That's why you only ended up with a big headache I imagine."

"Yeah. You fell down and they wanted to shoot you so I intervened." Percy explained the situation.

"So you took down the whole camp of trained soldiers? You don't look hurt in any way at all." Megan was impressed but tried not to show it.

"Back home I fought in two wars, always against overwhelming enemy forces. Believe me when I say that this..." he made a hand gesture to show all the destruction "Was like child's play compared to what I had to deal with. Not killing them was hard, but they aren't worth it nor do they deserve it. They only carried out the orders, this one on the other hand" He pointed the trident at Psimon "Should probably be put down for good, but... I don't like killing mortals."

Seeing her puzzled look he wanted to explain, but he heard a loud roar and the top of a tank landed not to far from them. Miss M, quickly levitated, only to see soldiers closing in on Superboy not so far from the outpost. "It's Co... Superboy. They are going to kill him!" Megan panicked.

"Not on my watch. Im ready for round two." Percy gathered the water from all nearby sources such as the pierced engines and stored what he could in his gloves. He carried the rest as he propelled himself with a mini earth-quake to get there faster. Even from afar they both knew that Superboy was at a disadvantage. While the normal guns couldn't hurt him, tanks were armed with armor-piercing ammunition.

Conner was already bleeding and his shirt was torn in multiple places, He kept attacking though, with even more fury than usual, there was something feral in his behavior.

Percy formed a whip from the water and swiped it low to undercut the soldiers, once they were down, he quickly closed the distance while the water bound them to the ground and solidified into ice. One of the tanks turned it's cannon at him and fired. Without missing a beat, Percy dodged the shell. He then tossed his trident at another tank to see it explode after the weapon pierced the barrel just before it fired at Superboy. Not bothering to summon his weapon back, Neptune grabbed the tank and lifted it, before spinning around and using the additional momentum to throw it further away, Some soldiers open fired at Percy, but he used the water in his gauntlets to stop the bullets. 

While Percy was fending off most of the soldiers, Megan sneaked up on Superboy and accessed his brain to try and repair the shattered memories, Her eyes glowed green, but when she was sucked into his subconsciousness, she became visible.

Some soldiers wanted to shoot her, but suddenly a black thing zoomed next to them and took their guns. "Are we late to the Party?" KF asked.

Suddenly, arrows started to practically rain on the surprised enemies. An irritating laughter filled the air as several explosions took out the jeeps that the army used for increased mobility.

"Not at all Kid Flash. The Party is not over yet." Neptune smiled and pointed to the incoming reinforcements. "I know you don't remember, but we are a team. Fight together and watch each other's back. Let's go!."

Neptune plunged his trident into a nearby rock and salt water sprung out, he then twisted the three-pronged spear and changed a small stream into a flood at his command, the top of his weapon started crackling with lightning as he made the water into octopus tentacles that grabbed three incoming tanks and smashed them together before throwing them away. 

With heavy weaponry out of the way, the team proceeded with their attack. The battle was quickly over. After KF tied the soldiers up, Megan transported them all except Percy into a joint mental realm. She remembered the warning he gave them the previous day. He just sat there, watching as Miss M repaired their memories. Once she was done, the Team could talk with them

"What exactly happened out there?" KF was first to break the silence. "Also dude" this was directed to Neptune "We knew you were strong, but I could never imagine that strong, You used a heavy tank like a Frisbee. Exactly how much power do you have?"

"Enough to make the gods fear me. That is not important right now." He saw their looks, but completely ignored it. "Mission first. Time for stories will come later. Where is Aqualad?"

"Safe in a nearby cave. When we lost our memories, Superboy went on a rampage, he attracted much attention, Some of us blacked out, but an earthquake woke us. We had no idea what was going on, but by comparing notes and scraps of our memory we managed to make something out of it. Then, we saw you three beat like half an army. Of course we decided to join, Aqualad was still unconscious so we hid him and came to help." KF told them.

"I will go check on him and restore his memory." M'gann volunteered. 

"We must all move before more reinforcements come, our mission is still in progress. I want to know what they were guarding." Percy ordered. They separated and while Miss M flew to help Kaldur, the rest of the team went back to the outpost.

(LINE BREAK)

The whole base was ruined, most of the tents were wrecked and the machines turned into scrapmetal, only three tents, the ones furthest from the rest, survived.

Neptune was leading them with his weapon ready just in case some monster jumped out on them, but once they checked that the place was clear they split up to cover more ground.

Percy went to the still standing tents. The first one was some kind of a lab, with multiple vials of what looked like blood in different places. He quickly looked into the files that were left, but most of it was in Bialyan which he did NOT know. Apparently in his world this country didn't exist. There was a constant mention of "Project Cadmus 2.0", but beyond that there was nothing he could make sense of. With a bit more time he would probably figure out some of it, but instead he decided to pack it together with a few samples of the blood. He was about to leave and torch this place when another thing caught his attention, a small square of ambrosia was laying on one of the Petri dishes that he missed during his haste to search. He grabbed it and left the lab.  
He went to the next tent to continue the search when he heard a scream.

Neptune rushed to see what caused it, he entered the third tent to find two metal cages, There was a small blanket and a bowl of some food that looked really untasteful. Percy's initially thought that it was where they kept some animals, but then he saw what caused the scream.

While one of the cages was open, in the other he noticed a young girl, about nine, with shining blond hair, She was tied with a golden rope and looked really beaten, her clothes were tattered and there were cuts and bruises all over her skin. Percy wanted to break her out this instant, but then he noticed why she screamed, a woman around 35-40 years old with straight black hair was laying on the floor. Psimon was holding her at gun point.

Neptune did not think. His muscles tensed and he tossed the trident at the villain in front of him, the three blades entered Psimon's body without any trouble piercing him through.

His body went numb and the gun fell from his hand. "I..." He tried to say something but then his body just dropped and he landed face first, Life completely leaving his body and Percy could sense that at least part of his energy entered the trident.

He walked to the now empty corpse and picked up his weapon. "Sorry you had to witness that, i...it was him or you and I believe I made a right choice." Percy said honestly. 

The woman was still in a bit of a shock, but she walked to her daughter and tried opening the cage doors, alas without success.

Percy grabbed the door with one hand and ripped it off, breaking the lock in the process. He let the woman untie the girl while he quickly cleaned his weapon of blood.

"Thank you... Whoever you are." The woman turned to him and thanked him, She was now carrying the little girl in her arms. Apparently the little one passed out from the stress.

"Yeah. Sorry. People call me Neptune." Her face remained stoic, but he could see a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes. "This is not really the best place to talk. Take her out of here and call the others."

"No need for that. We also heard the scream, but we got held up by some soldiers that felt too bra..." Wally paused mid-sentence when he saw Psimon's dead body. "What happened here?"  
The rest of the team, now including Miss Martian and Aqualad were standing there in shock.

"I made a choice and I did what had to be done." Percy stated coldly. "He was trying to kill them." He pointed at the woman and the girl. 

"That doesn't make it right." Robin said without the usual mischief in his voice. "Life is worth the same no matter to who it belongs." 

"I have to disagree. Neptune made thw right call, if he really had to choose between Psimon and his victim, he did what was for the best." Kaldur spoke up to defend Percy.

"As much as this philosophical discussion is interesting, there is something wrong with my daughter." The woman spoke, her voice revealing barely any emotions, but they heard the distress in her voice.

Percy walked over and touched girl's forehead. It was burning hot. "Something is wrong. She has a really high temperature." Percy applied some cold water to stop her mind from overheating. "We must get to the nearest hospital."

"No! No hospitals. They won't help her. Did you find anything in this camp that reassemble golden apple juice or a brownie?" The woman asked desperately.

While the rest of the team was completely clueless as to what was going on, Percy immediately understood and pulled a small square of Ambrosia from his private reserves. He had actually integrated the bag into his belt so he always had a supply with him.

"Here. Ambrosia should stabilize her." She extended her hand, but Percy did not hand it over immediately. "I think there is no need to tell you that it will only work on a half-blood?"

"I am perfectly aware of how it works Perseus." At this point team stopped understanding anything. How could she know Neptune's identity. 

"Cabin?" Percy asked.

"Second Cohort for me, Cabin one for her." She responded.

"Ok guys. That's nice and all, but we've gotta move." Wally finally managed to speak. "I can hear incoming reinforcements."

"No! We must get my notes and journal. It is too valuable." The older woman handed the girl to Percy who passed her to a surprised Kaldur before running after her. Luckily, they did not have to look too hard, Everything they wanted was in the third tent. She grabbed their bags and followed the team into Bio-ship that was now parked inside the encampment.

(LINE BREAK)

(SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, SEPTEMBER 4TH)

"Now explain everything from the beginning. Slowly. I will clarify whatever details they won't understand." Percy said to the woman. He took his mask off because there was really no point in hiding his identity and it started to itch.

"My name is Doctor Helena Sandsmark. I am a world renowned archaeologist, specialized in ancient Greece and Rome. I am also a granddaughter of Minerva, i served my time in second cohort." Helena said.

Here Percy gave an explanation on how Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood worked

"As I was saying, I specialize in the ancient north Mediterranean civilizations. Almost ten years ago, back when I was still young and making my way through the world of science I met a really charming man, i naively believed he was the one, we broke up soon after, but nine months later my daughter Cassie was born. I wanted to find this man, but only later I discovered that this man was in fact lord Jupiter, or rather Zeus."

Here, Percy finally explained in detail to the best of his knowledge how the split personalitys work with gods

"Like I said, Lord Zeus..." Helena started.

"No need for the formalities. Ol' Drama queen can't do anything to you here. We are completely safe from them." Percy smiled mischievously. 

"Fine. Zeus then explained that as a child of the big three, my daughter was in constant danger because of the strong smell she had, he said he couldn't protect her, or we would all experience the wrath of Lady Hera. I took my daughter to New Rome and lived there for a bit, my mother took care of my daughter when I was traveling for my work, no one knew who her father was, I couldn't reveal it to anyone not only because he was one of the big three, but also because she was born of his Greek aspect. After the second Titan and Giant wars were over and the camps were united, i had hoped that things would settle down."

Percy promised to one day tell them about the wars, but they did not have the time to write ten books.

"Sadly, the first had just lost their favorite toy and were in a really bad mood so another great prophecy was issued. A demigod Daughter of Zeus on the day of her sixteen birthday would bring back the time before Gods, before you ask, no, I don't know the exact wording. I was too busy trying to run away with young Cassie, I am not a fool. I know how paranoid Zeus is, everyone knows after what happened to you. Anyway, we've been traveling, hiding from monsters for weeks. I had some friends that helped me, but in the end there just the two of us, Me and Cassie. One night, we were running through the woods somewhere in Louisiana, A group of monsters attacked the motel we were staying in. I grabbed my daughter and we run. Somewhere in the middle of the forest one of the monsters caught up with us. Your favorite I might add."

Percy pondered the question before it came to him like a charging bull "Beef hear a.k.a as the Minotaur."

"Exactly. Except you weren't there and Cassie doesn't really know how to fight, i am also more of a strategist. You are the only living person to kill this monster in single combat. Back to the story. He was closing in on us and in desperation I prayed to every single god that wasn't Zeus or Hera. Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the earth shook and the Minotaur was gone in a pile of golden dust. I was saved by Poseidon himself." Helena exclaimed. 

Percy was proud of his dad, the only god that actually did something.

"He offered me and my daughter a second chance. To travel to a world abandoned by the gods." Helena started but was interrupted.

"Just like that?" Artemis asked unconvinced. "I am no expert, but usually Gods do not give people things for free." 

Percy wanted to protest and defend his father but Doctor Sandsmark stopped him. 

"She is right. Your father and Hermes actually wanted me to find you in this dimension. Hermes told me to give you this." Helena said as she pulled out an exact replica of the belt Percy wore in his armor except the buckle was made of imperial gold instead of... whatever batman used to make it.

"He said that the pockets are enchanted, they contain various things for you to use, including an infinite storage of Ambrosia and Nectar, just like your current belt. The whole manual is in one of the compartments. Your father  
wanted me to tell you that he is proud of you and what you achieved." Percy blushed slightly at Helena's words.

A loud scream interrupted the talk. Cassie was awake and now she was throwing herself around in pain. The water was still keeping her from burning, but Percy suspected the problem was inside her. He quickly pulled out more ambrosia and gave it to her, but she spit it out. The godly food caught on fire. 

"Oh no. We have real problem here. She is overloading with power." Percy explained. Seeing that no one understood, he explained. "When I first arrived here, my body started to absorb the raw energy of my father's domains. I was slowly being overloaded with power like I was eating too much godly food. It would start burning me on the inside..."

"How did you stop the process?" Helena asked with her usual cold voice, but there was clear note of distress.

"I... I was not even aware at that time. When I was in the sea, I felt something pulling me, so I followed it. I found my father's trident and it bonded with me, stabilizing me at the same time. It... I don't know. I think it served as a filter or something to the power. From what I was told the gods in our world served as a buffer to the power. Because demigods got their powers from them, our bodies are accustomed to specific amounts of it. In this world, there is nothing to stop us from drawing directly from the source. It is burning her."

"Then... I don't know! Stabilize her! Do something!" Doctor Sandsmark dropped all illusions of calmness and started screaming.

"I don't know how." Percy snapped. Not at all happy with the woman screaming at him, though he could understand why.

"Then take me to someone who knows!" Helena demanded. 

Percy wondered for a moment. The league had Zatara to deal with problems magical in nature, but this was more of a case of mythology. Diana would be best, but she is a fighter not a wizard. THEMYSCIRA! " Set a course for the coordinates I'm sending you." Percy spoke to Megan while frantically pressing buttons on holo-screen. "I need to make a call. Top speed. Nothing must slow us down. Life or possibly lives are at stake. We have no idea what will happen if she overcharged with power." 

Miss Martian instinctively followed Percy's command. There was this spark in his voice, the way he talked... He was a natural born leader.

"How long exactly have you been imprisoned?" Percy asked the doctor.

"Less than a week. I had a hard time keeping track of time while being held in a cage in a dark tent!" Helena screamed at Percy. 

"Doesn't matter. In her current state she won't survive much longer." Percy stood up from his chair and went to the back of the ship to have some privacy while making a call. "Diana. This is Percy. I need your help. It's a life or death situation with the potential of a large number of casualties. Meet me at Themyscira ASAP."

"What's going on?" Wonder Woman's voice sounded through the comm.

"I found another demigod from my world. She was imprisoned by Queen Bee, right now she is getting overcharged by power. If we don't do something soon, she will die. And with the amount of power that shes gathered, I fear she might go nuclear." Percy remembered how people compared a gods' true form to a hundreds nukes going out at once. If Cassie gathered even a small fraction of this power after she released it, it would destroy everything in the area.

"I will meet you there. Hurry up." Diana ended the communication and Percy returned to the main deck.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Helena was screaming at Miss M, which caused Conner to tighten his fists until his knuckles turned white.

"It is already going at top speed. I don't have any way of accelerating it further. We will be there in about an hour." Megan said.

"She might not have an hour! This excess energy is burning her from the inside!" Helena snapped. 

Kaldur was silently analyzing the whole situation. Finally, he turned to Percy. "Neptune! Your trident. Ocean-master used it to drain the power of Aquaman and other Atlanteans. Maybe you can do the same for Cassie and slow down the process."

Percy summoned his trident, but he wasn't convinced. "I don't know Aqualad. I mean... Ive never used it this way. I have no idea how."

"Just try. Maybe you'll figure something out." Kaldur said.

Percy pointed his trident at Cassie and started thinking about draining her power, nothing happened. So he tried a different approach. He closed his eyes and visualized the energy filling the air and flowing through and into the young girl as currents of the sea, he channeled his power through the trident and tried manipulating the currents of energy inside Cassie. It really did feel like controlling the water, but a familiar tug in his gut told him something was happening, Since he had arrived in this world, he had only had that sensation once when he first met the league and then it no longer happened when he used his power, but apparently now it had returned.

He opened his eyes to see lightning crackling between the trident and the young demigod. With each passing second, Percy felt more and more power, his weapon started to get heavier and hotter. He was forced to cut the connection when it became too much

"Put us underwater. I can propel us using the currents. I need to unload some of this energy." Percy ordered

Miss M followed his command. She trusted him to do the right thing. Although Somewhere deep in her mind there was this lingering memory of Psimon's dead body. What if he doesn't do the right thing in the end? 

Once they submerged, Percy channeled all the gathered energy together with his own to create a new current that would propel them at unimaginable speeds. He was pretty sure he just broke the laws of physics, but he didn't care. Cassie needed help and each second could mean the difference between life and death. He was determined to protect her, Somewhere along the way, he saw a part of himself in her. Just like him, she was haunted by a prophecy hanging over her head. She was a child of one of the big three, which caused every monster in the state she was in to come after her. He pitied her, but at the same time he hated Zeus for his pride and stupidity. How is that this jackass was still the king? 

(LINE BREAK)

They arrived on Themyscira in record time. Percy created a bubble of cold water around Cassie after putting a breathing mask on her face, as the pain had caused her to fall unconscious.

They were now on the beach not far from the city. Percy did not want to land inside the city, because the Amazons would shoot them out of the sky before they even got the chance to say ' Hello, we come in peace.'

Percy decided to leave the other boys to guard the ship and took Artemis, Miss Martian and Doctor Sandsmark with him. He had tried calling Wonder Woman, but she did not answer, only getting the voice mail, which did nothing but increase Percy's irritation.

After the third time that diana did not answer his call Percy had enough and motioned them to follow him. They all ran or flew in Megan's case, through the lush green island. Even in the middle of the night there was this untold beauty of paradise on earth, But none of them had time to take in the scenery. 

Percy guided them straight to the city. There was one more person who could help him, but he did not want to try until all other options were used. Now seemed like the right time. He ran foward, careful not to let go of his hold on the bubble. 

The city gates were closed, but Percy didn't care. Time was running out and he could feel it. The water around Cassie was getting hotter and he could feel the energy overwhelming her. He punched the gigantic gates, but they only shook. Irritated, he punched three more times. 

A voice could be heard from above. "Who are you and why are you trying to breach the defenses of Themyscira? Answer now or we will shoot you all before you make a move." The familiar voice of Artemis the Amazon sounded.

"You know me. I am Perseus, son of Poseidon. Now let me in before I level this whole place. Human lives are at stake so don't push me." Percy was really in hurry and couldn't deal with hateful Amazons right now.

Artemis the Amazon actually stuttered, not being able to speak up. She had heard of the real power Perseus possessed. He took out all the amazons in single combat and that was without using his powers. Heck. He even took her and Donna, two of best amazons at the same time while handicapped. She had no doubt that he would fulfill his threat. "Alright. Open the gates sisters!"

Although some of the other Amazons were reluctant to carry her order, others, who had more oil in their head, opened the gates and let the group inside. 

Percy did not wait for the gates to fully open, he slipped in with Cassie right behind him as soon as there was a wide enough space. The team continued running through the beautiful streets of the ancient city, still preserved in flawless condition.

Doctor Sandsmark and Artemis had to be telekinetically carried by miss M to be able to keep up with Percy. If her daughter's life wasn't at stake, Helena would actually stop and admire every single building, it was one thing to explore ruins, but another to witness a house that was still the same. It felt like she had traveled back in time and now could actually witness the lives of normal people. Or as normal as a tribe of semi-immortal warrior women can get.

They got to the stairs leading to palace hill. Miss Martian flew up with Artemis and Doctor Sandsmark. Percy just created a hurricane around himself and started raising up with Cassie, he was having trouble with staying in the air and not falling, this was actually draining him bit by bit. The stress was slowly getting to him.

When they got to the temple Queen Hippolyta was already awaiting Percy outside in full battle armor, aided by her personal guard and some priestesses. "Why are you here, my lord? " The last words were full of venom, but she was powerless. Percy was sent here by the gods, and he was a son of Poseidon. In theory, he had more authority than her, but the Amazons would never listen to any male. There was also the fact that this boy was able to defeat any other person here in single combat and Diana was no where to be seen.

Percy moved the water bubble forward showing the Queen and the others a young girl. "This is Cassie. She is a daughter of Zeus." At that the amazons gave a collective grasp. "She came from my world, but she is now being overflooded with power. If we don't do something, she will die, taking a good chunk of land with her."

"And you brought her HERE!?" The Queen screamed at Percy "You are endangering the whole island!" 

"That doesn't matter, because we will help her. You have the biggest collection of godly artifacts in existence, I'm sure there is something that can help her in there." Percy tried to reassure her, but the truth is he was so focused on saving the girl that he did not take into consideration the others. Athena's words rang in his head. "You will destroy the world to save a friend."

Hippolyta wanted to argue, but one look at Percy told her that there was no point. Instead, she sighed and led them to the vault in the deeper part of the palace.

Percy was looking around, awed at the beauty of the Palace which he visited only once before. As it served as a temple as well as a palace, the Amazons forbid him from coming inside. He didn't argue back then, but at that moment he wished he had. If not for how pressing the current situation was, he would be able stand for hours in front of the different mosaics and paintings representing the Olympians.

They arrived before large metal doors with Greek words carved into them. While to Artemis and Megan they meant nothing and even Helena couldn't read the dialect, but Percy was able to decipher it. 

'Behind these doors lay the treasure of the gods, beware mortals! For those of you who lay eyes on the might for your own gain will suffer the wrath of Olympus.'

Queen Hippolyta stopped and turned to the group. "From now on, only Percy, the young girl and I can go. The rest of you are forbidden from entering." She stated

"You can't expect me to leave my daughter right now" Helena hardly stopped herself from screaming and settled on an angry tone.

"I can. No one can enter the vault other than me and children of the three, I am the high priestess of the Gods and their voice in the mortal world. Who are you woman to argue with me." The queen snapped, not like this woman's attitude at all.

"I am a grand-daughter of Athena. There is more ichor in my veins than in you and the rest of the amazons in this room." Helena snapped.

Hippolyta was taken aback by this, but she instantly regained her composure. "That doesn't concern me. Now if you wish for your daughter to live, you will stop wasting our time." She ignored any further protests. Instead, she turned back to the doors and touched the circle in the middle. It glowed and the doors slowly lowered into the ground. Behind there was a dark staircase leading down into the mountain, she pulled a lever on the wall and torches lit the whole thing.

Percy and the Queen went down. The stairs led them to a circular room with multiple pedestals. Even without windows, the whole room was lit light it was middle of the day.

"The gods gradually stopped coming down to the mortal world. After my daughter killed Ares, Zeus sent me a message. He asked me to gather all the artifacts that were left after them, as they will never again walk among mortals. My daughter collected as many as she could before returning them all here. We had no idea how many artifacts were left " She was interrupted by Percy 

"As much as I'd love to know the history It's not the best time for a lesson. I need something of Zeus. For me, it was the trident that did the magic. " Percy said.

"We don't have any artifacts left from Lord Zeus himself... He never let his lightning bolt out of his hand and he gave Aegis to Athena. Maybe..." The queen said, she was actually please Percy was interested in the history, most males hardly care.

"I am here." It was the sound of Diana coming inside. "I didn't expect you to wait for me near the ship, but almost punching the gates down is overkill."

"A girl is dying. Forgive me that I knocked a little bit too hard. But that's not important now. Do you have anything connected to Zeus to stabilize her?" Percy was happy to see Diana. She grew on him like an older cousin. Kind of like how it was with Thalia. Both were immortals, independent, feminist, brave and quite pretty.

"Hm... The only thing left of Zeus in this World is... Me! As far as I know I am the only daughter of Zeus living here and my father keeps his things close to him." Dianna said.

"You remember my first quest, right?" Percy joked. His mind was overworking itself trying to figure out a new solution. "That's it! how do the mortals say it. EUREKA!" Seeing their puzzled glare, he elaborated. "Diana. You can serve as the filter. You were born in this dimension, so you are accustomed to the extra amount of power. If we bind Cassie to you, she will safely draw the strength through you. It will let you regulate how much she can access."

Hippolyta wanted to protest, but Diana gave her no chance. "I agree. But how are we gonna go it?" She asked

Percy summoned his trident and closed his eyes. He extended his senses and soon he sensed energy flowing through the room. Most of it was entering Cassie, but some was going into Diana. He focused on the 'currents' entering the young demigoddess.

He manipulated them and pulled some away, moving them through Wonder Woman, letting them pass her and only then letting it enter the girl. One by one, the energy lines were rearranged. Then, Percy pulled the excess energy from Cassie. He opened his eyes to see the lightning cracking at the end of his trident. The whole weapon was hot and shined with golden light.

"Here! Put the energy into these." The Queen shouted as she tossed him a set of bracelets. Percy did as ordered, not having time to argue. After everything was done, he fell on one knee. This whole 'ritual' had drained him. He slowly put Cassie on the ground and dispersed the water. Diana was still standing, but the aura of power around her changed. While before it was similar to Jason's back at his home, now it was a bit stronger. Not much, but still. It was like a toy just received new batteries.

"I-Is Cassie all right?" Percy tried to stand up, but he almost fell again from exhaustion. He had to support himself on his trident.

Hippolyta walked over to her and checked her status. "She will be alright." The Queen picked her up and carried her bridal style "I will take her to a bed. You two should rest as well."


	6. Chapter 6

(THEMYSCIRA SEPTEMBER 5TH)

"Guys. You've got to see this." Wally screamed at the group that was returning from Royal Palace.

Doctor Sandsmark decided that for the time being she and her daughter will stay on the island. The Queen did not have any problem with it. Amazons were happy to accept another warrior among them. Diana also stayed to make sure that Cassie will be alright.

"What is it Wallman?" Artemis asked.

"Just hurry up." The group went inside the Bio-ship. 

A big holographic screen displayed Queen Bee at a press conference in front of her palace. " Last night a group of american so-called heroes attacked Bialya. They crossed the border with Qurac and destroyed a science outpost, killing the lead scientist Simon Jones." Queen bee said.

A video appeared on screen next to her. It showed Neptune throwing his trident at Psimon like it really happened, but there were some major differences. For example the cages behind them were empty and there was no Doctor Sandsmark or Helena on the picture. Also, Psimon wore a lab coat and not his usual attire. He was running from Neptune when he was pierced with the trident.

" As you've all seen, this is what Justice League really is, a group of murderers that have no respect for wishes of the free nations of this world. Bialya was never informed nor had we agreed for them to enter out sovereign territory. I will demand compensation and for those perpetrators to stand trial." 

The screen showed the rest of the team minus Aqualad, wreaking havoc among the Bialyan soldiers. 

"We are so screwed" wally exclaimed nervously.

(MOUNT JUSTICE SEPTEMBER 5TH)

"Let me get this straight. You were supposed to run a silent recon mission. Instead, you destroyed a military encampment, devastated more than a dozen tanks and sent what qualifies as a small army to the hospital." Percy wanted to protest but Batman gave him no chance. "And you. You killed a man."

"I saved Doctor Sandsmark." Percy protested.

"That doesn't change anything." Batman tried to shut him down.

Not wanting to deal with an angry Bat, the rest of the team took a step back, but Percy remained unaffected. On the contrary. He stepped forward so he was facing him eye to eye.

"I think it does. If I had to choose between doing what I did and saving an innocent life, I would do it again." Percy snapped.

"I don't know how it's done where you come from, Perseus, but here we don't execute villains." Batman snapped back

This crossed a line for Percy. He has had deal with Bat since the day he arrived. And none of the encounters were pleasant.

(FLASHBACK)

"I am Percy Jackson and I am demigod, son of Poseidon." He extended his hand toward Batman, but the vigilante rejected it.

"I will be watching you closely. For now, let's discuss the details." Batman said.

"Ok then... Is he always like that?" Percy asked, looking at Diana. She silently nodded. "Anyway. May I get my stuff back? It..." 

"No." Batman cut him off.

"Alright." Percy smiled. "I tried nicely."

Before Batman could react, Percy extended his hand and with a small shimmer his trident appeared. This earned a glare from Batman and surprised faces from the rest of the league. 

Diana chuckled. She had only known her 'cousin' for a few hours and already she liked him.

"Don't try to act smart. You are still under league custody until we decide what to do with you." Batman sounded irritated.

"Let me think about it... Nope. I told you already. I agree to your 'offer' to become a hero. But I will do it on my terms." Percy said. Already disliking batman.

"Your terms? You are in no position to negotiate." Batman snapped angrily.

"Actually, he is." Superman joined the discussion. "Percy here has showed us good faith already. He also saved a good chunk of the Atlanteans." 

"After destroying it first." Batman cut Superman off.

"Actaully," Aquaman chimed in, "We learned that this was some type of bomb and not his powers. I suspect that Ocean-master was behind it." 

"That doesn't change anything. The Kid is a loose cannon. We can't just let him go." Batman Said.

"Then let me train him." Diana volunteered, much to everyone's surprise. "I will train him and teach him about this world." Looking at Percy, she added. "That is if you agree." 

"Cool with me." Was the response she received.

"Fine, but I will still keep an eye on him." Batman answered not at all happy.

"One more thing Percy. What is your full name. You can't exactly expect us to believe it's Percy." Green Arrow asked. 

"Didn't Bat show you my documents? I want them back too by the way. My name is Perseus. Perseus 'Achilles' Jackson. The middle name is another joke from the gods."

(END FLASHBACK) 

"You are right. You don't execute villains. And neither do I. But when needed, I can do what must be done."

Batman wanted to say something, but Percy sent him his worst wolf-stare yet.

"Now you shut up and listen Rich Boy, you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Yes, you might have lost your parents, but that is the only tragedy in your life. Guess what? Half of my friends lost one of their parents while the other completely ignored them." Percy snapped.

Batman was still in too much shock at the teen's outburst to actually react. The rest of the team found both of them too scary to try and intervene.

Percy continued. "Since I was twelve my life was nothing but a battle. I did not choose this life like you did, I was forced into it because of who I was. I did not want to kill, I still don't. It isn't pleasure for me, it's necessity. This is not a perfect world. You are a fool if you believe that you can save everyone. Sooner or later someone will die. The question is, who will it be?"

Batman was now beyond furious. This impertinent kid not only showed no remorse after killing, but dared to defend his stand. "Killing is killing, no matter the circumstances." Bat wanted to continue, but yet again he was interrupted by Percy.

"Oh really? Go tell that to the countless war veterans that fought to defend your country while you were doing what exactly? Jumping from the roofs and beating some muggers. You live in a bubble. Not wanting to see the truth, you created this perfect illusion for yourself. Money and expensive gadgets can't solve all the problems. I've fought in two wars. You want to know how it is? One moment of hesitation and your friend is dead. One mistake and your friend is dead. One wrong move and you are dead." The earth started to shake with his words, the team looked worried.

Percy was to focused on bat to care,

"War is a constant fight for survival. You can't defeat everyone by just knocking them out, because they will return stronger. I've fought monsters half my life. I have killed every single creature in Greek mythology. Starting with Minotaur ending with Gaia herself. If I just 'knocked them out', my world would now be layered with dead bodies and a crumbled civilization. And I would be somewhere along with the bodies. Tell me Bruce. Do you honestly believe that the death of everyone would be better than one death? Death of two parents better than death of one mugger?" Percy was furious. This Batman was living in some bubble. If not broken, it would cost the life of countless others. It could even cost the lifes of his friends in the team because he wasn't going to do what needs to be done.

The last sentence did it for bat. "You are out. I don't want to see you anywhere near the team anymore." 

The Earth shook one last time before it stopped. "Fine. Have it your way. But remember. This isn't over Bruce, one day this bubble you've created will pop I just hope it doesn't cost the life of members of the team." With that, Percy walked away.

Some like Kaldur and Artemis wanted to chase after him, but the rest stopped them.

"Now. I want a full mission report by tomorrow. Right now the League will need to deal with the fallout of your actions." With that, Batman walked into Zeta tube and disappeared in flash of bright light.

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION SEPTEMBER 5TH)

"Our trap worked perfectly." Queen Bee started the meeting.

"Yes. They never expected us to place cameras all over the area." Luthor smiled. "But sadly, it wasn't enough. Psimon failed. With the testimony from Doctor Sandsmark they managed to question the 'good intentions' of the science outpost enough to force us to drop the case before they had the chance to start investigating."

"There is also the problem of this new hero, Neptune." Manta displayed the image of Neptune using a tank as a Frisbee. "I say we deal with him."

"Agreed, but we shouldn't waste the scorpion venom yet. Research has proved it to be more potent than we expected. It can kill a full-blooded kryptonian in just hours and right now we can not find any antidote." Lex explained.

"For now, let's initiate the standard protocols. Ten million should be enough, right Great One?" Vandal ended the discussion.

"Of course. I will see to it."

"Good. Let the hunt begin." Vandal ended the meeting.

(Long Island September 5th)

Percy sat on the half-blood hill overseeing the empty valley. After Batman kicked him out, he wanted to have some peace so he jumped into the sea and willed the currents to take him away. He had no set destination, but somehow he ended up here. For so long camp half-blood was his home, a place where he was safe and could be himself, but there was no such place for him here.

This world was very different from his. Enemies were smarter, more public, they manipulated the masses and used treachery to fight. It wasn't really his style.

Percy was a warrior, not a politician. His career as a Praetor lasted barely a week, half-way through he wanted to set the paperwork on fire.

To distract himself, Percy took out his laptop, now fully charged, and started learning how to program and code. This was one of the skills that he still had to master. While back in his world these abilities were not only not needed but straight up dangerous, attracting monsters. Here it was essential. 

This world was so much more advanced, or maybe he had just lived under a rock back home. 

Percy set himself up a bank account in a Swiss bank, the kind that doesn't ask questions. He wired money from his 'Mercury Bank' card. Courtesy of Hermes and Just like that, Percy became a billionaire.

For all the bad the gods did, they at least made sure he was comfortable in this new world. Before he did not need any of this done, because first there was Themyscira, then the Team. But now he was on his own. Batman made it clear that he wasn't wanted.

Of course this 'payment' would attract the attention of the authorities, but he didn't care at the moment and the Swiss bank wouldn't be bothered in the slightest.

Percy sensed someone closing in on him, Someone familiar. In a matter of seconds he had summoned his trident and blocked all the incoming darts.

"You again? I am in no mood for battle right now so please leave me alone." Percy said looking directly where the attacker tried to hide. Key word tried.

"What can I say? I like a challenge." With that Cheshire jumped at Percy throwing some Kunai knives.

Percy he blocked the daggers and caught her two sai blades mid-air with his trident. He used her momentum and the grip he had on her blades to throw her over his head and push her into the ground. With a small twist he threw both knifes away and left her defenseless. Pushing the trident to her chest, Percy made sure she couldn't escape the binding that held her to the ground with water from his gauntlets and freezing it. 

"Now talk. Who are you and why are you still trying to kill me?" Percy snapped.

"Aren't you a curious one?" The assassin smiled behind the mask. "And handsome at that." Percy pressed the trident and sent her his wolf stare. "Alright, but you are no fun right now."

"I am not in a mood." Percy was getting irritated.

"Whatever you say. There is a bounty on your head, ten million dollars, apparently someones feels threatened by your good looks." Cheshire said with her mocking voice.

"How did you find me." Percy asked her.

"Well, pretty boys have always attracted me." After feeling the pointy end of the weapon she relented. "Fine. I came here to look for some clues. I did not expect to actually find you. When I saw you, I thought it was my lucky day. And looks like it still can be..." 

Percy didn't bother to try to understand what she meant. His gut told him to move, so he did.

Just as he dodged a bullet flew by where his head was less than a second ago. He turned and blocked a few shots with his trident, one of the bullets passed by his trident, but luckily it bounced off his chest armor. 

A man wearing black and orange armor walked out of the forest with an automatic sniper rifle. He tried shooting a few more times, but Percy could easily deflect all attacks.

The new arrival looked at Cheshire bound to the ground and Percy could've sworn he heard a chuckle from under the mask. 

"I see you already dealt with my colleague. Good. That means she won't interrupt me." Deathstroke dropped the sniper rifle and drew his sword. 

He jumped at Percy, but his attack was stopped by the trident. He tried to attack again but every strike was either blocked or deflected. The assassin thought he saw an opening and attacked from the left.

Percy was expecting it. He blocked the strike with the top of his weapon and used the shaft to try and uppercut the assasin but he was able to avoid the shaft, but by doing so he fell off balance and gave Percy the chance to switch to be the one to attack rather than defend.

Percy proceeded with a mixture of jabs and slashes, keeping the enemy at bay. The range advantage made the fight much easier compared to when he fought using Riptide. He still had the faithful blade that had been with him from the start of his journey in the godly world.

Poseidon's trident though was much more versatile and it was practically made to suit Percy. It changed in size after he summoned it for the first time and the shaft was felt like it was made for his hands.

"Not bad kid. I must say I'm impressed. You clearly have experience. But not enough!" Deathstroke jumped back, throwing a smoke bomb at Percy mid-air.

Percy started coughing as the smoke got into his lungs, but he regained composure in time to block an attack from deathstroke. He then kicked the assailant away and run the other way to get a visual. Once back on the hill, Percy saw the broken, half-melted remains of the bindings he made for Cheshire. She had disappeared... 'Like a Cheshire cat' percy thought to himself, amused he almost chuckled.

Percy unfroze the water and gathered it back into his gauntlets. The Second assassin did not give up so easily. Percy blocked a strike, but he was distracted.

Deathstroke capitalized on this and managed to disarm Percy, sending the Trident away. Now he was unarmed against one of the deadliest swordsman on earth.

The Assassin went for one strong overhead chop, but percy caught the blade in both hands. Then, he pressed increasing pressure on the blade and they both heard the crack. Then, the sword shattered. Deathstroke waa dumbfounded looking at what was left of the sword. 

"Not enough huh? Face it. You won't beat me. Go away now and I will leave you to it. I am really not in the mood right now, so..." Percy never finished.

Deathstroke drew his second blade and jumped at Percy. This time, he pulled out riptide, He caught the blade on his sword's guard and with a flick of his wrist sent it away. Before Deathstroke had time to comprehend what happened, Percy hit him in the head hard and sent him unconscious.

Percy gathered his things and left for the river. He wanted to jump and swim away, but before he never got a chance, as a javelin landed in front of him and exploded. "Ugh. What does a guy have to do to have some time alone..." Percy grumbled before standing up and summoning his trident. "Seriously. I took down two others. What makes you think you have any chance?"

Another javelin was thrown at Percy, but he caught it in the prongs of his trident and with spin sent it back to the sender.

Out of the woods jumped a man wearing a hockey mask and football armor. "You ignorant brat. I am Sportsmaster. I was able to take down your whole team before."

"Yeah? Well I am Neptune. One peiece of advice man. Never fight me near water." Percy was getting tired with the constant attacks. One was a nice practice. Two was annoying but Three was beyond a joke.

He focused on the water in the river and made a large portion of it life and made it fly directly at 'Sportsmaster' or whoever this assassin was. 

Sportmaster tried to dodge, but a wave fell over him and froze with him inside.

Having dealt with the annoying assassin, Percy took the opportunity and jumped into the water and propelled away.

(LINE BREAK)

Percy decided to go to Washington DC. He remembered the League had a safe house in every major town. New York was too close and there was too big a chance of being followed. He contemplated contacting Diana or the team, but Batman's words rang in his head. "You are out!"

Fighting solo is more dangerous, but at least he knows who can be trusted. The looks on the teams faces. Robin. Wally. Superboy. Miss Martian. They all resented him for who he was, for what he did, they feared him for what he might become. At least Aqualad and Artemis tried to stop him. Percy was grateful for that, even if the effort was futile.

He wouldn't stay if he was not wanted, after all it was the Justice League who forced him into the 'hero' thing. But he can be hero just as well without them.

There are many superheroes that aren't in the league and still do good. Or he could abandon this life completely. There wasn't anything forcing him to be a hero really. 

Ignoring that thought, Percy changed his direction last minute, deciding to instead go to the Luthor plaza hotel. Some luxury would be appreciated.

Percy put on his blue hooded jacket and well-worn jeans over his super-suit. He put the mask and the gauntlets inside his bag and sent the trident away. He wasn't sure where it went, but it was safe from anyone who would try to take it. It was his. The last gift from his father. Well semi-last, because there was still the belt, but Percy left it in the Bio-ship with most of his stuff. Only the bag he could call and his ever-returning wallet were safe. 

It was a good thing he kept his laptop inside the bag. After registering at the hotel, Percy got himself the all-inclusive king's suite. He went up to rest for a bit.

He still had things to do like some clothes shopping and he had figure out what to do next. He couldn't stay here for long. Not when there was a bounty on his head, his whole life he had run and hid from monsters. He came to this world to escape that life, but it was forced onto him once again. Now he was a public person, but he was not a hero. Not yet. He tried the league's way, but Batman kicked him out. Now it was time to forge his own path, time for Neptune to be his own hero. 

Percy got a pair of swimming trunks from the hotel store and went to the hotel swimming pool. It was gigantic, accustomed to fit at least fifty people, One of the walls was made of glass and gave a beautiful view of the city.

Percy sat underwater and watched as people went about their day. After a good hour he spotted a flash of light on one of the rooftops. It attracted his attention. Suddenly, a bullet pierced the glass and hit him square in the chest. It would have pierced the heart, but it flattened on Percy's skin. Leaving Percy to wonder if he was bulletproof?

He did not have time to think on this, because the glass wall broke and the water began to pour out. He tried to stop it, but he was too late, the water took him along with it and now he was free falling from the thirty third floor.

He tried creating a hurricane to lift himself, but it didn't work. He also couldn't summon his trident. Great. Suddenly all my powers are gone. Not having any other option, he managed to pull himself close to the tower and push himself away. This gave him enough power to crash into another building.

It all happened in a matter of seconds to the spectators that had witnessed this.

Percy quickly jumped to his feet and looked around. The office he landed in was rather large, suggesting it belonged to someone influential. Percy analyzed his surroundings, looking for a weapon of some sort.

He rushed to the desk and opened the drawer and found a gun and two spare ammo clips. He grabbed the gun and put the spare clips into his trunks to make sure he would have enough bullets for whoever wanted him.

Percy quickly checked the room for some spare clothes, but only found a woman's bra, definitely not something he wanted to wear while being hunted by a group of contract killers. Police wouldn't come fast enough so he had to save himself. Percy walked out of the office and into the hallway, he could try and search some other office. It was Sunday and nobody was here, but he abandoned the plan immediately as he caught the sound of footsteps, he jumped into the closest room and locked the door. He aimed the gun low so it would hit the leg of whoever it was. Despite what Batman believed, Percy was determined not to kill mortals unless absolute necessary. 

One could argue that when someone tries to kill you it is necessary but Percy was used to that, instead, he wanted to immobilize them and get more info on who put the bounty on his head. The steps were getting louder and louder. Percy steadied his breath and prepared. The doors suddenly opened and Percy shot. 

"Oh fuck. Seriously sweety?" Cheshire cursed at Percy. "Didn't your mom teach you not to shoot at women? I had hoped that maybe your father taught you not to shoot at beautiful women." She finished seductively. 

"Girl..." Percy moaned. "What do I need to do to get rid of you?" Percy asked not really expecting an answer.

Cheshire tried to move closer, but she ended up falling over and cursed. She could feel the bone in her leg. "Oh? You don't want me? Such a shame. You are really handsome." She tried to touch his abs, but he took a step back.

"Yeah sorry no. Not really my type, You know the white face, this whiskers..." Percy joked before taking off her mask. This time, the electroshock didn't work on him or it didn't affect him. "Now you better tell me, how did you find me so fast?" 

"Easy. I slipped a tracking device in your bag while you were busy fighting Deathstroke. I saw you jump out of the water and into this building so I slipped in." 

"And the man who destroyed my window? And took away my control over water?" Percy continued the interrogation.

Cheshire was reluctant to tell him anything more, but seeing that she had no way of running with a broken leg and he had a gun, she relented. "That would be Anatoli Knyazev, KGBeast. He is a dangerous assassin. As for how he blocked your powers... There is a toxin harvested from the deep sea flowers that can stop Atlantean magic. I guess yours is similar enough. It works on contact so he probably laced a bullet with it. The effects last for anywhere between two hours and a few days. Now please stop waving the gun around like a madman or you might accidentally shoot yourself and ruin your pretty face. It would be a shame."

"You wanted to kill me few minutes ago. Am I that good looking?" Percy joked, but stopped waving the gun. 

Cheshire wanted to give him some witty comeback, but heavy steps on the level above them silenced them both.

Percy silently moved to the doors. He wanted to run away and leave Cheshire to herself, but his stupid consciousness did not let him. "Ugh. Curse me. Fine." He turned back to the assassin. "Right now we are both in a tough spot. You have no chance of escaping and I am in no place to battle. I can't even summon my weapon. We need each other. I offer an alliance." Seeing that she was unconvinced, Percy wanted to leave, but another thought came to his mind. "You accept contracts, right? What if I offered you double the bounty on my head to help keep me alive?"

This sparked Cheshires interest. "Yeah. There is no way you have that kind of money. Good looks can't get you that far." 

Percy only smiled. "You noticed where I was staying? I will give you a clue: it was the top floor."

"Fine. I accept the contract. Now let's move before this moron realizes he is on the wrong level." Right on cue the ceiling shook and some paint fell down on them.

"I think he just did." Percy picked Cheshire up bridal style and run outside the office they spent the last few minutes.

They got to the main area of the office. Long lanes of boxes, were during weekdays, low-level workers did their job. Percy with Cheshire in his arms started to run. He tried to make his way toward the staircase. They were already half way there, when behind them there was a loud THUD ! followed by loud steps.

"Come out tovarishch. I will end you quickly" A loud voice, modified by some sort of tech sounded through the place. "I admit. You Atlanteans are tough. You deserve a quick and painless death."

Percy didn't listen. He crept his way through the building with Cheshire between, moving only when he was sure that KGBeast was not seeing him. To his relief, his life sense still worked.

Percy frantically looked around trying to find a dark enough shadow in the box he was in. The darkness under the desk was not enough. An idea came to him. "I have an idea how to get us out of here. It might work, but be ready for a fight." He whispered to Cheshire.

She wanted to protest, but he didn't give her chance. He lit the table lamp and jumped under the desk. Of course the whisper and light got Anatoli's attention. He was already tearing through the boxes to shorten the distance. Percy focused on the shadow and imagined himself and Cheshire melting into it.

Slowly, the world around them darkened and distanced itself from them. Cheshire wanted to give him some comment about risking her life on something that 'might' work, but found herself unable to utter any words.

Percy was feeling all the strain of trying to get himself and chesire out of the building. He searched for another shadow strong enough to help them. Subconsciously, he could feel the incoming assassin.

Eventually he found a shadow large enough to travel to a few levels below in a dark closet. He was about to travel there when an explosion lit up the whole box. He sent Cheshire down, but he was caught mid-way. It expelled him right in front of the barrel of a gun.

Percy looked up to see a beefy armored man. What immediately got his attention was the fact that the man had a large gun attached to his arm instead of a hand.

"So. Malen'kaya rybka nakonets-to vyshla iz ukrytiy." KGbeast said.

Percy was stuck he did not have a chance to aim the gun high enough to hit the assasins head or arm, but a well-aimed bullet to mans private area was as good a shot as any. 

KGBeast gave a series of multiple colorful curses while falling to the ground. The armor stopped the bullet from ripping his manhood to shreds, but there was now a dent and Percy was sure this villain wouldn't be able to walk for some time.

Percy got up and with one swift kick sent the enemy unconscious. Only then did Percy have a chance to get a better look at the assasin, he wore tight fitting armor that protected his chest, legs and head, leaving the shoulders and arms completely revealed. Percy looked at gun that was started right below his elbow. It looked quite advanced.

Percy shook his head before stepping on it and putting good part of his strength to make sure it was completely wrecked. Not even Leo would be able to repair it without replacing ninety percent of the parts. Smiling at his work, Percy tried walking away, but exhaustion got to him. Shadow traveling Cheshire had almost took all of his energy reserves.

He tried to walk away and escape, but fell. The last thing he saw before the lights went out was some woman wearing a red jacket that revealed a window over her chest area.

(LINE BREAK)

Percy woke up to see the rooftop of the building he was in, the broken window visible on the hotel next door gave it away. He was tied with the largest chain had even seen. 

The memory of what happened slowly returned to him. Percy could still feel his water powers absent and he was still in his briefs, but now his gun and ammo clips were absent.

"Your finally awake. Good. I was starting to loose my patience, my master said that you might yet be of use to us." A woman's voice said from behind Percy.

Percy tried turning his head too see the woman, but he couldn't, No matter which side he rotated his head, she was still in his blind spot. "It's impolite to talk to people without facing them." Percy joked while he tried to figure a way out of the chains.

Suddenly, his chains fell down and he realized he was free. He quickly jumped to his feet and turned around, ready to face another assassin. She was a young woman, probably in her early twenties. Like he remembered before he passed out, she wore a red jacket with a pretty revealing window over her chest area, She also had black, well-fitted trousers and a belt with a yellow ring acting as a buckle, In her hands were two swords somehow similar in design to riptide. Her hair was chopped short and uneven and Percy suspected that she cut it herself using the sword she was holding.

She tossed him one blade and nodded for him to take it. "I will make this honorable for you. You will have a chance to die in battle." She stated like she had already won.

"Yeah... well any other day I would accept an offer from such a beautiful lady to dance, but there is no music and Im in my underwear. It would send a wrong vibe. You get me?" Percy mocked, but he picked the blade up. It felt strange in his hand. Only one side was sharpened, while the other was dull. Definitely not best for his style. "Do you have any other weapon? This one is not really my style."

Lady Shiva was slowly getting irritated with this insolent teen. Somehow he didn't seem at all scared by the fact that she was about to kill him, either that or he was confident in his victory. She remained silent, not letting him see the irritation.

Percy shrugged and tried summoning his bag. To his joy, it came. He dropped the sword and immediately pulled out his belt and put it on.

Shiva was surprised by the whole ordeal, she decided that this was getting out of hand. She jumped at the, who at the moment was unarmed, but he blocked the attack with a different sword with a leaf-shaped blade.

Percy put the bag down and got into a battle stance. Both he and Shiva were facing each other. Honestly, Percy hoped he would get to eat some ambrosia and maybe regain his strength.

Both fighters attacked at the same time, When there blades met, it sparked before Percy managed to overpower her and push her back.

She gracefully landed and adjusted her strategy, seeing that a full frontal assault will put her at a disadvantage, she instead opted for a series of quick, vicious strikes that were hard to dodge. If at least one of these precise attacks landed, Lady Shiva would likely win the battle or at least cut some of the teens muscles. To her complete surprise, he not only blocked the initial attacks but also got her off balance, regaining the upper hand.

Percy wasted no time and went for one swift slash, He expected her to dodge to his left, giving him an option to then use his other hand to send her unconscious or at least daze her long enough for another attack to connect, but instead she side-stepped right, almost walking into his blade before cutting his bare shoulder. Blood started slowly pouring out and he realized that she was actually very skilled, many would call this move pure luck, but for Percy's trained swordsman eye it was obvious that this was a carefully planned and perfectly executed strategy. He backed up a bit to get some distance before suddenly lunging toward.

Shiva hoped that the battle would end quickly. Deathstroke was a great assassin, but he was nowhere near her level, after hearing about his failure, she wanted to test this boy. Someone who attracted the attention of the Great Ra's al'ghoul surely was a worthy opponent. Yet, she did not expect this level of skill from someone so young. She had coated the bullets used by KGBeast to poison him and make sure 'neptune'couldn't use his magic. She had hoped that a single shot would end someone so strong, the poison apparently did not fully work as he was now fighting with some magic blade, but at least they were on more or less even ground. Neptune clashed his blade with Shiva's, she expected him to repeat the move he used previously, sending her backwards so she prepared to cushion it, but instead he locked their blades by the guard and with some weird move he sent her sword away. This didn't surprise her enough however With incredible speed she jumped back, using Percy's face as a launch-pad and kicking him hard. He was sent two steps back and it give her a chance to grab the second sword that the teen had dropped.

Percy recovered at the last moment only to block another series of vicious strikes, he saw an opening and jumped in, but he created a mirroring opening on himself. They both attacked at the same time, leaving a quite nasty scar on their respective right upper part of the torso. Lady Shiva now had a tear in her jacket.

"Well, now I see the advantage of fighting mostly naked. At least my clothes are safe." Percy mocked.

The assassin kept her cool, but she was analyzing this boy. His style was very chaotic, unlike anything she had ever saw. It was a natural mixture of several different schools. Some techniques like the disarming move she'd never seen before. Like her, he was impossible to read, the only difference was she practiced for years to show no emotions or body language to indicate her moves, while he did the exact opposite. He sent conflicting signals and distracted his opponent with talking.

"At least I had some modesty not to show up in just my underwear." Shiva played the role of an irritated cold assassin. She needed him to get comfortable, give him the illusion of control over the battlefield. Percy acted like a mature person and stuck his tongue out. This actually irritated Shiva. "Stupid boy. How dare you mock me?!"

She lunged at him, but unknowingly she fell right into his trap. At first he was prepared to block like she expected him to, but with speed that might rival that of Captain Marvel, Percy side-stepped the last moment and let her fall. Not able to stop now, she did the next best thing, cushioned the fall and got to her feet. When she was back in position she found herself with a cold bronze blade at her neck. She could feel the metal pressing into her throat, with one wrong move could lead to a very painful death. 

Reluctantly, she dropped her sword. Percy was smart enough to stand on the opposite side of the hand she kept her blade, making it impossible to make any move.

"Congratulations. You won, I have to say im impressed, I'm sure our paths will cross again." With that, Shiva threw three small smoke pellets.

When the cloud finally dispersed, Percy found himself alone on the roof.

(LINE BREAK)

He walked down to see a movie team packing away filming equipment, they had made it all look like a scene from an action movie, No one would suspect it was for real.

First, he went to get Cheshire, but she was long gone, so he left quickly and walked back into the hotel. The receptionist stopped him. "What is the title of the movie you are acting in called sir?" She asked.

Percy could swear she was looking nowhere near his face. "Blue harvest" He quickly answered before disappearing in the elevator.

Tired beyond imagination he went into his apartment, he had already munched few squares of ambrosia, his brain had worked in overdrive mode for almost half a day, he was constantly pumped with adrenaline and now that it was over for now, the adrenaline had left his system, now he was feeling the pain.  
Right now he just wanted to take a cold shower and hit the bed.

He dropped the bag on the couch in the living room and wanted to undress, but his life sense picked up another person in the room and In a matter of seconds, Percy flipped over a table to hide behind, It wouldn't serve as too much protection, but at least it hid his exact location.

"There is no need for such violent actions Mr. Jackson. I only came here to personally apologize for any trouble you might have encountered during 'filming' today." A male voice called out. 

Percy needed no introduction from the trespasser. Well, technically it wasn't trespassing if you owned the building. "Luthor. Cut the act. I am sure you know who I am and I sure as hell know who you are." Percy retorted.

"Oh! Im flattered Mr. Jackson. Please take a seat, I am sure it will be more pleasant for both of us to talk like civilized people." Lex coated his words with sugar, but Percy sensed that he was actually honest. 

"Fine." Percy took a seat on the other armchair. "Now. What do you wan't to talk about. Really." For now, Percy decided to act like a cold professional. It might work better with Luthor.

"As you wish. It didn't escape my attention that you Mr. Jackson became a billionaire out of nowhere..." Luthor started only for Percy to interrupt.

"Take into account that today I already faced five of some of the deadliest assassins in the world, Let's just play open cards Luthor. I read the file Justice League has on you. I know you are nowhere near as clean as you act to be."

"Fine. I know you aren't really from this world." This was a gamble. Lex could break the bank if he played it right. Or earn another superhuman enemy. " I also know that for some time you acted as a superhero named 'Neptune'. From a convincing source I learned that you were kicked out of the Justice League Side-kick squad and that there is large bounty on your head. Did I miss anything?" 

"Probably that I attracted the attention of every federal agency in the world by creating an account in a Swiss bank using a public network, only to seconds later transfer billions of Dollars." Percy gave a sarcastic comment, but his face remained cold. It took a lot of strength to keep up with the appearance.

"I wouldn't worry about that. I made sure that it wasn't suspicious. After all, you were the owner of Triton Security prior to this morning when I bought the company from you, quite a large company providing safety systems for luxurious clients all around the world. After your father passed away and you were of age, you decided that it's better to sell it and live in with the fortune old pop made for you." Luthor gave him a wide grin. Similar to Percy's mischievous grin, but it was more evil.

Some people would be scared by it, but Percy didn't even shrug. One of the ups of going through two wars was that he was hardly scared by anything now. "So you seized the opportunity and got yourself new shell company?" Percy asked.

"Yes and No. We both gained from this, so why worry?" He pulled a small device from his pocket. It took Percy a few seconds to realize it was actually a mobile phone. It was thinner and lighter than he had ever seen before. "This is another gift for my fellow billionaire, in this mobile phone there is a long list of useful contacts. From trusted real estate agents to a good tailor, to several companies that can increase your wealth even more." 

Percy nodded unconvinced. He reluctantly took the phone. "And why are you so kind to me Luthor. You never do anything if this doesn't benefit you."

"Let's just say that I am looking for a friend." Luthor said.

"I've looked two different devils in the face. I must say Luthor, none were as convincing as you. I will keep your gifts, but I will not be a pawn in your game." Percy looked Luthor in the eyes and gave him a toned down version of his wolf stare, just like he expected, the rich guy flinched and collapsed deeper into his armchair. He quickly regained his composure.

"I perceive you more of a knight. A very chaotic, but extremely useful. Anyway. It's a tough world. Better to have friends in high places." Luthor said.

"Believe me Luthor. My friends are higher than your's could ever get. Now excuse me. I planned on taking a shower and I'm sorry to say that you are nowhere near my type. I think it's the hair." Percy dropped the illusion and returned to his sarcastic self. He tried hard, but he just couldn't resist. Luthor stood up and murmured something like 'nice day' before leaving the apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

(WATCHTOWER SEPTEMBER 5TH)

The whole league gathered every member was present in person. They had already managed to deal with the main fallout of the covert operation. Doctor's Sandsmark testimony was a huge help and also caused an in-detail investigation of Bialya by the UN.

As of now, there was another problem, Neptune. This matter caused way more stir. After reading the report on the whole event, the league was divided into two camps, One supported Percy's actions and stood up for him but the other agreed with Batman and stated that killing is wrong no matter what.

The previous meeting about it ended prematurely when they were called to a natural crisis on Cuba. Now that this was all sorted, they could return to their debate.

"This is outrageous. He saved that woman!" John Stuart protested. "We cannot punish him for stopping an execution."

"He killed Psimon. That's not how it works and you know it. He crossed the line." Superman protested.

"And so did I back in my army days." Protested Captain Atom.

"That was different. You had no choice. He could do something." Batman countered. 

"He acted on instinct. You know his history, He is a war veteran. He had to kill to survive, he fought for his life for six years." Wonder Woman justified. 

"Exactly our point." Flash interrupted her. "He is not fit to be a hero."

"Let me finish. He is trained to kill, but he only resorts to it as last solution, when he knows that everything else is futile." Diana ended.

"That is not an excuse, John is also a trained soldier, but he don't kill." Captain marvel interjected.

"It's been years since I left the military. He came here straight after a war. After I returned I had rehabilitation, I had help. What did we really give him? More military training, and then sent him on mission. It was wrong. We made a mistake. We pushed him into this life, only to withdraw our support. He is now alone God knows where." John stated.

"It was his choice to become a hero." Batman said in an emotionless voice. Deep down he felt some regret, but he wouldn't admit it. He was still right in his mind. Percy crossed the line and instead of apologizing or showing remorse, he defended his actions.

"Oh really?" Aquaman sent Bat an irritated glare. "Forgive me, but I disagree, he did not look for trouble, we brought him to public attention and placed a target on his back. If we had let him go, he would of settled down and live a simple life And even after we captured him, you didn't give him any real choice. You practically coerced him into fighting our battle. He wanted to join the league, he aspired to be like us, Instead, you put him into your 'secret team'." Aquaman raged at batman.

Everyone was surprised by this. Orin was actually one of three people who knew about the whole of Percy's past. At first he thought of him as some weirdo, then as a pretender to his throne, but after he learned his full story he felt sympathy toward the kid. His visit in Atlantis only confirmed it, he didn't want to be in the spotlight, he did what was right and cared for people. During the attack he rushed head on to save others. Percy was a hero like no other in this world.

Batman wanted to say something, but decided to stay silent. Instead, Hawkwoman spoke. "What happened can't unhappen. We should focus on what to do next. Right now he is missing and we have no idea where to look for him."

Green Arrow rose his hand. "Actually, I found something on him on dark web and It's not good." He pressed some buttons and an article on Perseus appeared. It contained everything the League had on him in their files and a bounty of 10 000 000 US$. "I think we have a big problem." 

(LINE BREAK)

(WASHINGTON DC SEPTEMBER 6TH)

Percy arrived at the airport two hours ago. After examining the phone Luthor gave him he came to the conclusion that this was some type of custom-made model. Of course he ran it through every anti-malware program he could find, Percy had to give it to luthor that at least he was honest. This phone was equipped with tons of useful apps and contacts.

Percy already set up a meeting with an investment agency to do something with his money. He also booked a first-class flight to Jump City, California. This city was quite big, but did not have any superhero on it's own as far as he was aware. Because of close proximity to Star City and Coast City, Green Arrow or Green Lantern usually dealt with the super criminals, but they had no hero of their own. Percy decided he would operate from there. 

He found a list of major cities with superheroes 'assigned' to them. some people really needed to get themselves a life. There was also a list of major cities with high annual crime rates. Percy analyzed it and after carefully taking everything into consideration he decided that Jump City was best for him. It had two major benefits when compared to other cities on the list, it was right next to ocean, which doesn't need to be explained. The other pro was that since it was the west coast, it meant that Batman was as far away as possible, no Dark Knight next door. Green Arrow and Green Lantern were both cool as far as their short relations went.

Percy smartly left his bag in the taxi to summon it after he passed security. Better not to explain why he carries an armored outfit and utility belt. It would not have been good to have your secret identity revealed whilst waiting for departure.

Right now Percy was dressed in a suit and carrying only his laptop bag. The suit was practically required in first class and the laptop was so that he had something to do while waiting.

After getting bored with learning programming, Percy summoned his bag. He wanted to read the manual for his new belt, something he hadn't the chance to do with the whole league fiasco.

Percy suddenly heard shots being fired, he turned, only to see a group of at least ten heavily armed thugs enter the departure hall.

Leading them was a very tall muscular man in a luchador mask and some green tube coming from his hand to the back of his head, he was wearing brown cargo pants and a sleeveless black muscle shirt that was tucked into his pants, his belt had a fairly large buckle, He wore black gloves and black boots.  
What got Percy's attention was the fact that the man had no weapon whatsoever.

Percy quickly run to the bathroom while the terrorists shouted something that escaped his attention. He didn't have time to get to toilets and dress up. Time was of the essence, so he only put on his gauntlets, new belt and domino mask. He felt an urge to open one of the pockets in the belt, so he did. From inside, he pulled a pair of red googles/glasses. Curious, Percy put them on over his mask, almost Immediately, they expanded forming a full face cover and kind of a hood, leaving his hair to flair like with KF, but his mouth was covered by a hard mask that had a voice modulator. Percy smiled behind the mask, easily one of the best gifts his father had ever got him.

He summoned his trident and moved through the shadows silently back to the main area.

"I will ask you for the last time. Where is Perseus Jackson?!" The luchador screamed at the people. Most of them cowered in fear. Percy stepped into the light and created a mini earth-quake to attract attention.

" You looking for someone?" Neptune asked. Of course he was met with a load of bullets from machine guns, but he swiftly dodged them or deflected with his trident. He then used the water in his gauntlet to form several ice spikes and shot them at the assailants, each spike stuck in the barrels of the guns, effectively jamming their weapons.

This gave Neptune a chance to close the distance, he punched one of the guys and sent him flying, he crashed into the nearby cafe and did not stand. People cheered at that, only to be quickly silenced by the sound of a repeatedly fired hand gun.

Percy looked down at his chest and saw his suit torn in multiple places and a few flattened bullets on the floor. One of the other attackers saw this and started running.

Neptune focused and suddenly water burst from a nearby hydrant hitting him in the chest and making it freeze, immobilizing him and effectively taking him out of the fight. Water was still flowing out of the hydrant, so Neptune created a wave that swept through the area and froze every single attacker still standing, including the pseudo-wrestler.  
Neptune heard movent from behind him and turned to see the one he threw at the cafe holding a gun to the head of a small girl. 

"N-Now Y-you surr..." He didn't finish as he was hit with the hilt of a knife on the back of his head, sending him unconscious.

Behind the man was a woman in a dark grey jumper, a dark green baseball cap and military trousers. What got Neptune's attention was the characteristic mask of a Cheshire Cat. Percy wanted to initiate conversation, but was interrupted by the sound of breaking ice. 

The pseudo-wrestler's muscles were now twice the size and his veins were visible. "Nobody imprisons Bane!" He shouted before charging at Neptune.

Not wanting to endanger the people behind him, he instead faced him head on. Both Bane and Neptune locked and tried pushing one another. The former was surprised at this, no one should be able to match his strength, but the Venom clouded his mind too much and he couldn't make sense of it. Instead, Bane raged more and tried throwing Neptune away. 

He ended up being tossed instead, he crushed through the security checkpoint and landed there, leaving a large crater, the Hero then boosted his jump with a condensed earth-quake and planned on landing on Bane.

Bane caught him before he could land and threw him on the ground next to him, deepening the crater, he then stomped, hoping to crush his enemy's spine, but before he could, Neptune was already on his feet.

One swift kick sent Bane a few feet away, tired with the wrestling match Percy summoned his trident and pointed it at his enemy, the top crackled with electricity and a large charge hit Bane.

"Huh? Since when can it do that?" There was no time to answer the question, because Bane pumped more Venom into himself and with newfound strength tried to smash Neptune. The Hero was distracted and did not notice it fast enough. Without time to avoid the punch, he responded with an attack of his own, when their fists met it, a huge impact wave went in all directions, rising dust all around them and causing all the windows to break. 

Percy swiftly spun behind Bane and ripped the Venom pipe from his back. He then shot another charge of electricity at what ought to have been his weak spot. Bane immediately fell unconscious. 

Using the fact that dust was still in the air, Percy snuck out and took off his mask and gauntlets. He then blended into the crowd and tried looking for Cheshire. Suddenly, someone pulled him out and behind the counter of one of the stores. 

"Must you always make a scene? You attract enough attention with your pretty face and great body." Cheshire joked.

"Nice to see you too Cheshire." For the first time he actually had a chance to take a closer look at her face. She had thick black hair and grey eyes, as well as olive-colored skin. "Are you planning on trying to kill me again? We already settled through the best of three that I am better than you."

"Need I remind you that I accepted the contract on saving your skin? I didn't get paid so I had to protect my investment and earn my twenty million dollars." She cut him off 

"After you disappeared from where I sent you I assumed you stood me up. Sorry not sorry." Percy retorted.

"I had to get to some doctor to fix my leg." Percy suddenly remembered about her leg. He looked down to see it bandaged, but without anything that would indicate that it was broken. Back in his world he would assume ambrosia, but here? He decided to drop the question now as he saw police lights outside. "We should get moving unless you plan on spending a few hours explaining what they wanted with you."

Percy silently nodded and followed her outside through a broken window in the back. They got to one of the hangars. Inside was a private jet. He looked around, still half expecting an ambush, but he boarded the plane with her. Inside looked actually comfy, He sat in one of two chairs while Cheshire went to the cockpit and told the pilot to take off. When she returned, she sat in front of him and started playing with her Sai.

When they were in the air, Percy started a conversation. "You already know my name. I think it is only fair that I knew yours." She chuckled. 

"Yeah. No. That is not how it works. Tell me. Are you new to this gig? Because surely you should know that I don't need to tell you anything." She said. That was intended to be a lighthearted joke, but to Percy it came as a complaint. 

He frowned. "Sorry, but usually my enemies send a group of powerful monsters that I have to kill to survive the day, so to answer your question, Yes, I am new to the trained killers thing."

This actually surprised Cheshire. After seeing him fight, she expected him to hate killing like other heroe, that was the reason she only knocked the guy in the airport unconscious, or she would risk loosing her payment. Even with the 'Bialya incident'. She was sure it was a modified recording and thinking that Psimon forced him to do it or it was some accident that Queen Bee used to cause a disturbance. She noticed him working on his computer on something. There was also the fact that he said monsters.

"What type of monsters are we talking about?" She asked.

Percy hesitated. Every ounce of logic told him that she was not to be trusted, but his gut was telling him otherwise. And Percy being himself decided to listen to intuition not logic. He still decided to play a little bit and try to get some information.

"Do you know who I really am? I mean as far as genetics go." He asked.

"Well, by the display of power I would assume either some meta-human, Atlantean or alien. So which one?" She asked curious now.

"None." He grinned. "Three guesses and you are out. Sorry. Such a pretty face." He teased her a bit before continuing. "I guess the closest would be a hybrid of all three. You know the Greek myths? I come from a different world... dimension if you wish, In my world, they are actual beings. The whole lot of them, Gods, Titans, monsters, Primordials, All of it is real."

"And where do you sit in this? You can't expect me to believe you are an actual Greek god? Although that would explain your divine body shape." She purred at the end. Sure. Another earth... why not?

Percy was mostly unfazed by her attempts at flirting during battle, but now it was getting to him. Back when he was with Annabeth he didn't really notice other girls and since he came here he hadn't really spent time with women. Amazons don't count because they were like the hunters of Artemis Maybe except Donna. " I am a demigod, son of Poseidon." 

Jade chuckled. "So you are a fish Jesus?"

"Why everyone keep using this joke? Seriously. Can't you people be more creative?" He asked with humour.

"And the monsters?" She asked

At that Percy pulled out a Greek Mythology Beastiary he got at some point when he came to this world. He handed it to her open on the index. 

She looked at the list of black lines where names should be. "Is this some kind of a joke?"

"I crossed out the names of every monster I already faced and survived." Percy replied simply.

She looked at the list again and had a hard times finding monsters that weren't crossed out. "How is it even possible? Not even Hercules fought everything." Her attitude changed from halfhearted to dead serious. If this was true then this man in front of her was some kind of freaking death machine.

" Heracles. " Percy took great pleasure in correcting this mistake. "Is overrated. As for how, I had six years of near constant fighting for my life. My enemies were getting creative with what monsters they sent. Except beef head, He crawled back every two years or so. Also, two wars really do wonders on your kill-count." 

WARS? As in plural? Cheshire couldn't believe what she heard. "Wait a moment! Wars? You are younger than me. Wars as in more than one?"

"Yes." Percy watched with a bit of amusement at how she lost her cool and now questioned every word of his. He already killed the logical side of him that was saying not to trust her, but it still rang in the back of his head. "The second Titan war and Second Giant war. After that I came here to escape the constant battle, but well... I met you" He smiled, but nstead of his usual cheerful grin, it was a melancholic smile. Deep down he still missed everyone he left behind and still mourned those who died in both wars. The memories did were not among the happiest, but he cherished them as they were the only ones of his friends. 

Cheshire wondered for a moment whether to push or not. Finally, she decided to drop the subject. She was about to change the subject when Percy finally finished clicking on his laptop.

"So Jade. Now that you know about me maybe you can tell me a bit about yourself?" Percy asked casually, fight a smile at the shocked look on her face.

Jade was dumbfounded and couldn't speak. It took a moment before she managed to regain control over her tongue. "How did you find out?" 

He grinned. "I didn't. I just found a file on an assassin that matched your description. You just confirmed it." Deep down, he was proud of his detective work.

"Smart, Good-looking and Rich? Now be careful or soon you will have to hire me to stop the girls from tearing you apart." She joked.

"Now I know your name. Care to tell more?" Percy packed away his laptop and now looked at Cheshire. 

"Only if you go first. With your whole life story, not just some slips. You seem like a really interesting person. Thought about writing an autobiography?" She asked.

"Nah. I am not good writer. And nope. No more bedtime stories from me." He yawned and faked going to sleep.

Cheshire returned to playing with the sai, albeit disappointed. This demigod really sparked her interest. 

(LINE BREAK)

The trip was mostly uneventful after Percy had fallen asleep. Cheshire decided not to wake him up until they were closing in on Jump City. They landed in a private hangar and left for the city center, It was around 5 PM by the time they were standing in front of the airport.

"Now what?" Jade asked. "You plan on doing something interesting?" The last sentence was done in a sultry tone. 

"I must go get myself new clothes and check into some hotel, then I'll probaly will go swimming to unload." Percy answered.

"So that is what's it's called nowadays?" She smiled. Before Percy could come up with some witty comeback she continued. "No clubbing? Casino? I am disappointed. Rich guys usually have an interesting night life." 

"Well, I'm not most guys, you know what they say about judging a book by it's cover right?" Percy said with a grin. " I will spend most of the night creating myself a false backstory and forging documents. If I am to blend into this city, I will need to make myself believable." 

"Boring. Call me when someone attacks you." Cheshire wanted to disappear, but Percy grabbed her shoulder. 

"Nope, you decided to serve as my bodyguard so you will stay close enough to actually help." Truthfully, Percy did not want to leave her unsupervised. He trusted her to some extent, but the logical voice in the back of his head was really persistent.

"Fine. But I am not wearing a suit. And you have to get me some nice dress." Cheshire said with a cheeky smile and a wink.

"Why the dress?" Percy asked curiously, she didn't seem the type to wear dresses.

"Isn't it obvious? I am dragging you to a club against your will. If I am to be stuck with you I will at least enjoy it." Jade said.

"Yeah... No that's not happening." Percy protested. He was tempted to agree, but he wanted to secure his identity before anything got out. "Maybe tomorrow once I am done with the formalities of creating a fake life for myself. Nice try though." 

Jade wanted to add more, but she relented, he at least agreed somewhat so she was actually quite please with that. 

They went to one of the fancy hotels and Percy rented the royal suite, the Receptionist looked at them curiously, but said nothing. The apartment was pretty large, but smaller than what he had at the Luthor Plaza in Washington.

Entering through the doors, the first room that came into view was a large living room. On the left there was a really large couch in front of which was a glass coffee table, on the wall in front of it was a large TV. On the other side there was a table with four chairs, there were also two doors, one led to quite a large bathroom. Percy was tempted to jump in there and lock the doors for hours, but he stopped himself and instead went to see the bedroom. It was also larger than normal, with a large king-sized bed, a fireplace with two armchairs in front and a really fluffy rug. 

Jade looked at Percy and sighed. "Guess Ill be sleeping on the couch." She said.

It took Percy a moment to understand what she meant. "No. Im sleeping on the couch. You get the bed." He exclaimed.

This legitimately surprised her. "Huh?" She said dumbly, never had someone been so genuinely nice to her before.

"Well, I can manage and it's not like I won't have this for a while, one night won't make a difference. And plus If I had really forced you to sleep on the couch, my mother would drill her way into this dimension to scold me, her glare could rival that of Medusa and I do not wish to join my step-father as a garden statue." Percy said chuckling at the end, he took one more look at the bed and hesitantly added. "Or maybe we can both sleep in this bed, It's so large that if we cut it in half each of the halves could hold two people."

"Fine by me. Now wake me up if something interesting starts to happen. Or if you get bored." She added with a smile.

Percy sat on the couch and spent the next few hours creating a fake persona for himself. Luthor gave him an idea and documents provided by Hermes helped. 

After actually looking through the documents for the first time Percy couldn't stop himself from laughing, He didn't bother before because he simply thought that Hermes summoned his own documents, but now he found a set of report cards from a private school in the United Kingdom. There was also his birth certificate, which stated that he was born to Sally and Paul Jackson.

There were also other documents like his health documentation, obviously fake because he stopped seeing mortal doctors after he first visited Camp Half-Blood. He didn't really care, but he noticed that documents magically changed his date of birth to match his actual age, instead of the bonus three years Hermes gave him. Probably used the mist and it faded soon after he got here, after finishing with the documents, Percy got to work. 

Creating a false identity for not one person, but a whole family wasn't that easy, he looked into this Triton Security that allegedly belonged to his late father. The company was strange, It did provide security for many important buildings, but that's where the information ended. There was no contact number, no email address, not even a physical location. Percy also noticed that the name Paul Jackson was listed as the founder, seemed like someone had the job for him. He abandoned this and focused on establishing his story.

Percy stayed there until he finished the education saying he planned on going to Oxford, but his fathers death brought him back to the states. There, he inherited the company he had no idea how to run, so he sold the majority of the shares to Luthor and was satisfied with a small percentage that ensured he still had some voice. 

After that was all done, Percy undressed and took a quick shower before going to sleep. His nightwear consisted of just his underpants, but he was too tired to actually care. Jade was already asleep and it's not like she would look under the blanket. He was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

(LINE BREAK)

The next morning Percy woke up to a shock of hair blocking his vision. He felt something... someone warm hugging him And he was hugging back. 

He tried sitting up or at least separating, but Jade stopped him and murmured. "It's too early. Let me sleep some more." She was completely unfazed by this situation. Percy finally forced himself out and moved away. "Ugh. But you were such a nice heater..." Jade said, Percy felt his cheeks turn red.

"How did we even end up like this? I remember falling asleep on the other side of the bed." Percy asked.

"I have no idea. You were up late. I woke around three in the morning and saw us like this. You don't see me complaining though." Jade sat up as well. She was wearing a loose nightgown and her black hair was a mess. "Probably you had some nightmare. Or a really happy dream" Percy turned even more red on that last comment. She was trouble and he knew it.

He stood up and went to get a shower. Cold water hit him and immediately all his problems seemed to disappear. His mind cleared and he had a chance to think clearly. He thought about all that happened throughout the last few days and smiled. He cleaned himself and stood up, not wanting to waste time on toweling, he willed himself dry. Water immediately fell from him like he was venomous. Percy put on new pair of trunks and a bathrobe. When he stepped out, Jade was already waiting.

"So? What is the plan for today boss? " The word was laced with so much sarcasm that a deaf person would hear it. Percy only smiled

"Well, I have several meetings planned. First I am getting a new wardrobe, There is a tailor in this city that Luthor praised in one of the notes, I set up a meeting at ten fifteen." Percy pulled his phone and looked at his calendar. "Then I have an appointment with a real estate agent." 

"And his name?" Jade asked curious. When Percy gave it, she grinned. "I see. The Secret Master. He and his crew specialize in... a certain field of real estate. Shadows, Luthor, even some super heroes. One hundred percent secrecy is guaranteed." 

"And nobody has ever tried to get the information by force? I mean there are many powerful telepaths out there. Also, if he is that powerful why is he an estate agent?" Percy was curious. It took more than few people to build an apartment with a secret rooms and passageways. 

"The Secret Master is a meta-human. He can make people forget secrets. I have no idea how it works, but he just causes his employees to forget the secrets they learned during the work. Even he forgets all of them. Also, he never asks any unneeded questions. As for why he is an estate agent... you will know once he sends you a bill." Jade was serious when speaking about him. Everyone was. This man was very influential. 

"Ok then. Anyway, after that I have another appointment with an investment company to secure my fortune. Then I am technically free, so I will work on..." He wanted to say something but she cut him off. 

"Great. So we are going to a club. I heard that there is this place called Lotus which is great." Jade was surprised when Percy cringed.

"Yeah... No. I will look for something better. Is it really necessary? You can go to the club without me." Percy said.

"But who will pay for my fun then?" She joked before disappearing in the bathroom. 

Percy planned on taking his suit with him, but he dropped the idea and instead just packed the belt into his laptop bag. He then put on his more casual clothes and got ready to leave, but Cheshire was still not ready, it was still early and Percy had more than an hour before his Tailor appointment of his, so he put on the news. 

"And now we return to the crash of flight W16-16." This sparked his interest. The designation sounded so familiar. " The plane was supposed to travel from Washington DC to Jump City, but soon after it left the airport in the capital it exploded. The reasons of it are unknown, but authorities do not exclude the possibility of sabotage or bombing. Search for survivors is still in progress, but Agent Carwall said not to have high hopes. The explosion and the fall left the plane in such a wrecked state that it would need to be miracle for anyone NOT to become puddle of burning goo." Another voice spoke " Yeah. Thank you Vicky. That was quite... descriptive. The Government is yet to give an official statement regarding the..." 

Percy turned the TV off. This was supposed to be his flight. Someone detonated a bomb on the plane he was supposed to be on, If Cheshire hadn't of snatched him, he would most likely be one of these puddles. 

Jade, who as it turned out had already finished In the bathroom and sneaked up behind percy when he was distracted, she looked at him with a bit of pity. For some weird and unknown reason in this short time he grew on her. She enjoyed teasing him and how he could go from careless to embarrassed in just a matter of seconds. He was also kind and loyal... Wait. What bullshit is that? He is just a guy paying me to protect him . 

"Someone bombed the plane in attempt to get me. If it wasn't for you, I would already be dead. Thank you. You did save my life." Percy smiled at her. 

"That was Detonator, an assassin working for the league of shadows." Jade supplied him with a name.

"Aren't you working for them as well?" Percy asked. His hand instinctively went to the pocket in which he kept riptide. It had almost been two months since the trident became his primary weapon, but old habits die hard. 

"I do. But it doesn't work that way. Unless there is a mission given, I am free to accept other contracts as well. And since it's not the League that put a bounty on your head, I am free to stop the assassinations. As long as you will pay me at least." She grinned. 

"Yeah. You win. I will fund your club escapade tonight." Percy retorted but he could stop smile even if he tried, he had come to like her.

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION SEPTEMBER 7TH)

Ra's and Luthor were sitting in a plane on their way to Taipei. "How is the hunt going?" Luthor asked. Even if the question might have seemed vague for outsiders, they both perfectly knew which hunt businessman referred to.

The Great One frowned. "It is harder than we assumed. No one was able to do anything to him." Ra's displayed several videos of Percy fighting KGBeast, Shiva and later on Bane. "At first we assumed that his powers are what makes him a threat, it was almost a grave mistake. He is skilled and cunning. He held himself against Lady Shiva and matched Bane in hand to hand combat. He also outsmarted Mr. Knyazyev by luring him into a trap. Not to mention that he did not board the plane that he bought ticket for." Raj said.

"He is smart, Ill give him that. Hiring one of the assassins as his bodyguard..." Luthor looked at video of Cheshire knocking down one of the Bane's thugs.

"Yes. He offered her a contract with double of what she would get for killing him." Ra's looked a bit irritated. 

"Isn't she one of your operatives? Just order her to kill him in his sleep." Luthor suggested without even the slightest worry. 

"I can't. She already accepted a contract to protect him, if she betrayed him now it would put the whole league in bad light." Raj said frustrated.

"But did she not take a contract to kill him before that?." Luthor asked.

"It is an open contract that doesn't require registration, we posted a flyer that we want his head. He actually gave her a paper version which she signed. It means that she is bound by it." Raj answered.

"Then there is the problem of the incoming summit. We already slipped the info onto the deep dark web that she is going to assassinate me. What now?" Luthor asked 

"Simple: we replace her with someone else. It was just a rumor after all" the Demon's head grinned evilly. "It's not like they are always one hundred percent true." 

(JUMP CITY SEPTEMBER 7TH) 

The meeting with The Secret Master was less impressive than Percy expected, he gave him specifications on what type of apartment he wanted and what 'special amenities' were required. Percy decided  
on a two level penthouse. Lower level contained a large living area, kitchen separated from the rest with glass, soundproof walls, master bedroom, giant bathroom, one guestroom and his office. And there was a cinema room. Not some cheap flat-screen TV with two armchairs, but an actual Cinema with rows of chairs and everything. 

From the living area you could walk out to a large balcony, It could easily park two cars outside. You could access the helipad from stairs on the balcony. Percy did not own any, but maybe he will need it later. In the living area there were also two sets of stairs leading to the second level. 

Upstairs Percy asked for a library, a large gym, swimming pool, several more guestrooms and a separate storage room. In the office on the lower level and in the library directly above the office on the upper level there was a hidden elevator that could take you several floors below. Percy bought whole two floors and had it rearranged to suit his needs for his personal headquarters. There, he had several stands for his suits, a powerful computer with several monitors, an archery range, sparring room, a separate room for his trophies, a holding cell and a lab. 

There was also a secret passage to a vault designed similarly to the one he saw on Themyscira, but instead of going into an old dungeon you went into a high-tech, highly-secured secret chamber where he could safely place the equipment that was too dangerous.

Back in the apartment Percy also had a few additional secret compartments to be hidden in key places to later stock them with what he might need in case of an attack. There was also a high-speed elevator that could take him to a private underground garage or to a water tunnel leading out into the bay. The whole place was to be 'reinforced and secured better than an atomic bunker under the white house'.

Secret Master listened to all the demands and said that everything will be ready in two weeks. This really surprised Percy. He half-expected the guy to laugh at him saying that this is impossible or tell him that it will take a few months. Instead, he was supposed to wire half the horrendous payment up front as soon as they signed the deal and be ready to move in to the new fully furnished home in two weeks.

Looking at the bill, Percy understood why this guy chose to be an estate agent. The price had eight zeros. Cheshire was not present during this whole ordeal. Percy did not trust her that much to reveal all the secrets of his future home and base. She had waited outside in the rented car. 

When he was done with all that Percy changed into his elegant suit and they drove to the investment agency, even after buying the apartment, Percy had way too much money to just let it lay in the bank. Investing some would be what any normal person would do, so that is what he wanted to do. 

They were both riding the elevator to the upper level. Percy made Cheshire put on a suit and she looked like professional bodyguard, gun included. After they walked into the office they were greeted by a man wearing a grey suit and red tie, Percy noticed red straps under his jacket, they exchanged pleasantries and Percy sat down in the chair in front of a large desk. 

"I must say it's no small surprise to host such a young man. To be honest initially I thought that it was some kind of a joke, but everything checked out." The man said, 

Percy smiled but on the inside Percy breathed a sigh of relief. His fake backstory worked. The few articles he set up were good enough, if someone was too suspicious, they would discover that something wasn't right and changing timestamps on articles is not that easy to trace.

"I am honored that you chose our company." The man said.

"Yeah. Mr. Luthor advised me to contact you first. I don't really want to have to worry about anything. That is why I sold him the company. Running a business? that's not me." They continued the talk and finally, Percy struck a deal. He did not give them all his money, but rather kept about a third or so. This way he did not have to worry about running out of funds and still secure a steady source of income.

When everything was signed and he and Cheshire were about to leave when the window broke and Percy was pulled out of it with some type of sticky rope.

He was hanging twenty levels above ground and he was not enjoying it. He looked up to see a man wearing a purple spandex costume. His mask had shades of purple, with the back part being dark purple and the front part being regular purple. It also sported a spider emblem that took up most of his forehead and then intersected with his golden eye pieces. The torso of the suit was dark purple, along with his hands, knees, elbow, inner elbow and parts of his feet, while the remainder of the costume was purple. Around his wrist he had two dull gray bracelets from which the line Percy was right now hanging on extended. 

"Sorry to interrupt this meeting, but someone is paying quite a bit of money for your head. I guess you must be going so I will stop holding you back now." Black spider joked and he released the rope. 

Luckily, Cheshire caught it just in time. Now Percy was hanging only 19 levels above the ground. 'chances of survival just tripled' Percy thought to himself before starting to climb. 

Cheshire still tried lifting the rope so she could get Percy up faster. She turned to the dumbfound businessman and screamed at him. "Don't just stand there! Go fetch some help!" Chesire snapped.

Once he was gone, Percy looked relieved and looked at the black spider grinning. "Dude. Seriously? What does a guy have to do to have one day without assassination attempts?" Percy asked.

Black spider looked completely surprised by his change of attitude. Gone was the lazy, scared billionaire teen and in his place was someone else. This... whoever it was suddenly launched himself and landed back in the office. 

Percy pulled out one of his gauntlets and put it on. He used the water stored in there to create a tendril and pulled black spider inside, he was too surprised to react as Cheshire knocked his light out. 

Percy quickly gathered the water and hid the gauntlet just as security arrived. "Take this man away. I am late for next appointment already." He told them, already leaving. 

"But sir. You will need to give a statement to the police or he will be released." One of the serurity guards said.

"Tell them to contact my lawyer." Percy shouted, already stepping into the elevator. Once the doors closed.

Cheshire looked at him amused. "But you don't have a lawyer." She told him.

"Exactly." Percy grinned widely, chesire just chuckled at his antics.

(MOUNT JUSTICE SEPTEMBER 7TH)

Since Percy had left, the Team was divided. Artemis, Kaldur and to some extend Conner supported his decision while the rest was outraged by his actions. Of course this led to a very poor performance during training sessions and an ever-increasing tension. 

Finally, Megan snapped. "Enough! We can't go like this anymore. Can't we just return to how it was before? I miss Percy but what happened happened and we can't change the past. I can't watch this team fall apart because of one fight Percy had with Batman." 

Kaldur nodded. "I agree, but it's not that simple to just let go. Batman really went overboard. Percy did what he had to do." 

Megan shook her head. "We are not having this discussion. Boys. Shake each other hands and apologize for your behavior. This goes to both groups." She flew to Artemis and extended her hand. "Friends?" 

Artemis instead hugged her. "Friends."

Robin and Wally were reluctant to do the same, but Kaldur stepped up and apologized first. Only Conner was still unconvinced. Through the short time that Percy spent with them the two really bonded. They had this silent understanding and mutual respect between them, he believed that they could have become like brothers if given time. 

Megan noticed his hesitation and flew to him. " Sorry for how it turned out I know you and Percy had this... weird male bond. I hoped you could get past that for now. He is not dead. He just left. Conner. Please." 

She extended her hand to him, but he instead hugged her tightly. " For you." They both blushed.


End file.
